https://wiki.gamedetectives.net/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=ConcernedHobbit&feedformat=atomGame Detectives Wiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T15:12:50ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1440Watching You:Timeline2016-07-09T13:54:20Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* The Weekend Progress */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
An email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]...<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a SoundCloud link https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
[[Image:WatchingYou-ReverseSearch.jpg|100px|left]] The mp3 on the SoundCloud, when put through SSTV, gave an image of google reverse image search<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] posted a new post helping us<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
'''Issues'''<br />
<br />
Apologies for the issues. I’ll be your replacement reverse image search.<br />
<br />
…oh look, a result!<br />
<br />
http://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1<br />
<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
edit: dammit! give me the right url, grace!<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
''':/'''<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
'''Let's go!'''<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
'''Apologies'''<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
'''Clarification'''<br />
<br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
'''Good morning!'''<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
=== The Weekend Progress ===<br />
<br />
On 2016. 07. 09. 14.21 We got a new post:<br />
<br />
'''Specialist'''<br />
<br />
Uh, hey. At long last, my puzzles are ready. Future waves should hopefully not take as long, we just had a big assignment from the organisation to deal with.<br />
<br />
Anyway, we’re going to be testing some more specific knowledge today, as you may know. Try to find this download to start you off. It’s not what it looks like , though – it’s sealed.<br />
<br />
sbmpmccixmodvnldzbhgy<br />
<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
Vigenere cipher on '''sbmpmccixmodvnldzbhgy''' with the key '''specialist''' led us to '''aminecraftworlddotpng'''<br />
<br />
https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/aminecraftworld/ is the page where we countinued. Here we had an image file which could be renamed to zip, containing a minecraft world.<br />
<br />
The map contained a 5x5 grid with different blocks. Adding up the block IDs resulted a new page, https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2417-2/<br />
<br />
In rapid succession we went from [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2417-2/ 2417] (containing keyword '''shiftfocus''') to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/shiftfocus/ shiftfocus] (containing keyword '''reverse''') to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/sucoftfihs/ sucoftfihs] where the question '''What is below shift?''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/ctrlfocus/ ctrlfocus]<br />
<br />
Lookoutside, then go back and change your focus.<br />
<br />
[https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/lookoutside/ lookoutside] had an image of a field.<br />
<br />
By combining "minecraft" and "field we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/minefield/ minefield], where the picture was another zip file containing a minecraft map. <br />
<br />
The name of the world was "[https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/lookinside/ /lookinside]" that had coordinates in base64 format.<br />
<br />
On the map at the specified coordinates there was a line of blocks with signs on them. A lone sign contained '''Alphabetical'''. By putting the blocks in alphabetical order, the signs on the blocks gave us '''64fETNV8'''<br />
This led us to the [http://pastebin.com/64fETNV8 pastebin] which contained this:<br />
<br />
stvjsmrs@gmail.com<br />
Who should the archer attack first?<br />
Bonus point for getting the answer right first time.<br />
<br />
Class: Archer, Fighter, Soldier<br />
HP: 10, 12, 11<br />
Atk: 11, 17, 13<br />
Spd: 8, 2, 3<br />
Def: 6, 5, 5<br />
<br />
Discord user whizzer0 sent the email and got a response:<br />
<br />
You can submit the answer to this one to our shiny new Discord™ server:<br />
https://discord.gg/eDc0M3kxNno3NDM<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
The link was expired and the hall title for the puzzle was 'Discord or', leading us to believe that it wasn't a Discord invite.<br />
<br />
Discord user HerrMyth decoded the link in base64 and got more coordinates: '''x743y16z743'''</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1439Watching You:Timeline2016-07-09T13:51:43Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: Cleanup after Sqbika</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
An email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]...<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a SoundCloud link https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
[[Image:WatchingYou-ReverseSearch.jpg|100px|left]] The mp3 on the SoundCloud, when put through SSTV, gave an image of google reverse image search<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] posted a new post helping us<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
'''Issues'''<br />
<br />
Apologies for the issues. I’ll be your replacement reverse image search.<br />
<br />
…oh look, a result!<br />
<br />
http://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1<br />
<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
edit: dammit! give me the right url, grace!<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
''':/'''<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
'''Let's go!'''<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
'''Apologies'''<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
'''Clarification'''<br />
<br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
'''Good morning!'''<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
=== The Weekend Progress ===<br />
<br />
On 2016. 07. 09. 14.21 We got a new post:<br />
<br />
'''Specialist'''<br />
<br />
Uh, hey. At long last, my puzzles are ready. Future waves should hopefully not take as long, we just had a big assignment from the organisation to deal with.<br />
<br />
Anyway, we’re going to be testing some more specific knowledge today, as you may know. Try to find this download to start you off. It’s not what it looks like , though – it’s sealed.<br />
<br />
sbmpmccixmodvnldzbhgy<br />
<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
Vigenere cipher on '''sbmpmccixmodvnldzbhgy''' with the key '''specialist''' led us to '''aminecraftworlddotpng'''<br />
<br />
https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/aminecraftworld/ is the page where we countinued. Here we had an image file which could be renamed to zip, containing a minecraft world.<br />
<br />
The map contained a 5x5 grid with different blocks. Adding up the block IDs resulted a new page, https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2417-2/<br />
<br />
In rapid succession we went from [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2417-2/ 2417] (containing keyword '''shiftfocus''') to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/shiftfocus/ shiftfocus] (containing keyword '''reverse''') to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/sucoftfihs/ sucoftfihs] where the question '''What is below shift?''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/ctrlfocus/ ctrlfocus]<br />
<br />
Lookoutside, then go back and change your focus.<br />
<br />
[https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/lookoutside/ lookoutside] had an image of a field.<br />
<br />
By combining "minecraft" and "field we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/minefield/ minefield], where the picture was another zip file containing a minecraft map. <br />
<br />
The name of the world was "[https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/lookinside/ /lookinside]" that had coordinates in base64 format.<br />
<br />
On the map at the specified coordinates there was a line of blocks with signs on them. A lone sign contained '''Alphabetical'''. By putting the blocks in alphabetical order, the signs on the blocks gave us '''64fETNV8'''<br />
This led us to the [http://pastebin.com/64fETNV8 pastebin] which contained this:<br />
<br />
stvjsmrs@gmail.com<br />
Who should the archer attack first?<br />
Bonus point for getting the answer right first time.<br />
<br />
Class: Archer, Fighter, Soldier<br />
HP: 10, 12, 11<br />
Atk: 11, 17, 13<br />
Spd: 8, 2, 3<br />
Def: 6, 5, 5<br />
<br />
Discord user whizzer0 sent the email and got a response:<br />
<br />
You can submit the answer to this one to our shiny new Discord™ server:<br />
https://discord.gg/eDc0M3kxNno3NDM<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
The link was expired, the hall title is 'Discord or' so we are speculating if it's actually a discord link or someone already took the opportunity to join.</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1380Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T19:23:58Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Two Days After */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]...<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a SoundCloud link https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
[[Image:WatchingYou-ReverseSearch.jpg|100px|left]] The mp3 on the SoundCloud, when put through SSTV, gave an image of google reverse image search<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] posted a new post helping us<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
'''Issues'''<br />
<br />
Apologies for the issues. I’ll be your replacement reverse image search.<br />
<br />
…oh look, a result!<br />
<br />
http://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1<br />
<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
edit: dammit! give me the right url, grace!<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
''':/'''<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
'''Let's go!'''<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
'''Apologies'''<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
'''Clarification'''<br />
<br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
'''Good morning!'''<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1379Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T19:22:05Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Bam */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]...<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a SoundCloud link https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
[[Image:WatchingYou-ReverseSearch.jpg|100px|left]] The mp3 on the SoundCloud, when put through SSTV, gave an image of google reverse image search<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] posted a new post helping us<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
'''Issues'''<br />
<br />
Apologies for the issues. I’ll be your replacement reverse image search.<br />
<br />
…oh look, a result!<br />
<br />
http://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1<br />
<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
edit: dammit! give me the right url, grace!<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
''':/'''<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
'''Let's go!'''<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
'''Apologies'''<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
'''Clarification'''<br />
<br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1378Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T19:12:54Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Phase Two */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]...<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a SoundCloud link https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
[[Image:WatchingYou-ReverseSearch.jpg|100px|left]] The mp3 on the SoundCloud, when put through SSTV, gave an image of google reverse image search<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] posted a new post helping us<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
'''Issues'''<br />
<br />
Apologies for the issues. I’ll be your replacement reverse image search.<br />
<br />
…oh look, a result!<br />
<br />
http://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1<br />
<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
edit: dammit! give me the right url, grace!<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
''':/'''<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
'''Let's go!'''<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=File:WatchingYou-ReverseSearch.jpg&diff=1377File:WatchingYou-ReverseSearch.jpg2016-07-05T19:10:31Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: The mp3 on the SoundCloud, when put through SSTV, gave an image of google reverse image search</p>
<hr />
<div>The mp3 on the SoundCloud, when put through SSTV, gave an image of google reverse image search</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1376Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T19:06:49Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Later that day */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]...<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here <br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] posted a new post helping us<br />
<br />
'''Issues'''<br />
<br />
Apologies for the issues. I’ll be your replacement reverse image search.<br />
<br />
…oh look, a result!<br />
<br />
http://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1<br />
<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
edit: dammit! give me the right url, grace!<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
''':/'''<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
'''Let's go!'''<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1375Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T19:05:59Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Phase Two */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]...<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here <br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] posted a new post helping us<br />
<br />
'''Issues'''<br />
<br />
Apologies for the issues. I’ll be your replacement reverse image search.<br />
<br />
…oh look, a result!<br />
<br />
http://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1<br />
<br />
Simon<br />
<br />
edit: dammit! give me the right url, grace!<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
''':/'''<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1374Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T19:02:53Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Phase Two */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]...<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1373Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T19:02:09Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: fixing fuckup</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1372Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T19:01:43Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* STVJSMRS Website */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
'''Testing will continue tomorrow'''<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
'''Timing'''<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted:<br />
<br />
'''Welcome to Phase Two'''<br />
<br />
Remember all that you learn<br />
since it will be useful at the end.<br />
<br />
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
Hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1371Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T18:59:20Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Bam */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
'''BAM'''<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1370Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T18:58:04Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Later that day */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
'''countdown'''<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
'''reversetheurl'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
'''481'''<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1369Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T18:56:10Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Trailheads */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads (Phase One) ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
countdown<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
reversetheurl<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1368Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T18:51:09Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Two Days After */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
countdown<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
reversetheurl<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
what if there was something more<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
what if it was a code<br />
what if it was '''onlyacode'''<br />
could it be justified then<br />
could it<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
'''onlyacode'''<br />
<br />
3<br />
4<br />
16<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
4<br />
7<br />
6<br />
2<br />
2<br />
1<br />
6<br />
3<br />
1<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1367Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T18:22:19Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: Fixed details</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
countdown<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
reversetheurl<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
Earlier, we had skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there were several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
<br />
what if there was something more<br />
<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
<br />
what if it was a code<br />
<br />
what if it was onlyacode<br />
<br />
could it be justified then<br />
<br />
could it<br />
<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
<br />
surely<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1366Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T18:21:25Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: Added more information</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
countdown<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
reversetheurl<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
After some more kitten seduction, Benjamin confirmed the puzzle was broken (Discord user Crauss had gotten close to the first pastebin URL by matching up spaces)<br />
<br />
It should be the first Pastebin URL. I think you sorta got it. I don't know. It's probably broken. I'll ask Christina.<br />
The onlyacode one should work though.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
From this, we skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there was several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
<br />
what if there was something more<br />
<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
<br />
what if it was a code<br />
<br />
what if it was onlyacode<br />
<br />
could it be justified then<br />
<br />
could it<br />
<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
<br />
surely<br />
<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]<br />
<br />
'''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely'''<br />
<br />
Quite a mouthful, huh? Our (co)founder was, er, very… wise…<br />
<br />
Look, you’ve done enough for today. What I recommend is getting ready for the next phase.<br />
<br />
Remember the first two lines of Phase Two? I’m not really supposed to help you, but… get together a list of all the puzzle pages so far.<br />
<br />
Christina J</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1364Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T18:16:49Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: minor URL cleanup</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
countdown<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
reversetheurl<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
From this, we skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there was several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
<br />
what if there was something more<br />
<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
<br />
what if it was a code<br />
<br />
what if it was onlyacode<br />
<br />
could it be justified then<br />
<br />
could it<br />
<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
<br />
surely<br />
<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/ /onlyacode/]<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin that led to the page [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/ /whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/]</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1363Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T18:15:00Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: New page</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
countdown<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
reversetheurl<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
From this, we skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there was several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
<br />
what if there was something more<br />
<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
<br />
what if it was a code<br />
<br />
what if it was onlyacode<br />
<br />
could it be justified then<br />
<br />
could it<br />
<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
<br />
surely<br />
<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/<br />
<br />
The numbers match a word on every pastebin: '''whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely''' led to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/whatwasitthatyouworkedpasttocodeifitcouldbeknownsurely/</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1362Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T17:02:54Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: /* Two Days After */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
countdown<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
reversetheurl<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
<br />
'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
<br />
After an email conversation with Benjamin, Concerned Hobbit exchanged kitten pictures for a hint:<br />
<br />
AAH<br />
SPACES<br />
IT'S TO DO WITH THE SPACES<br />
KITTENS<br />
<br />
[[BENJAMIN]]<br />
<br />
From this, we skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there was several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
<br />
what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
<br />
what if there was something more<br />
<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
<br />
what if it was a code<br />
<br />
what if it was onlyacode<br />
<br />
could it be justified then<br />
<br />
could it<br />
<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
<br />
surely<br />
<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/</div>ConcernedHobbithttps://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Watching_You:Timeline&diff=1357Watching You:Timeline2016-07-05T15:57:38Z<p>ConcernedHobbit: Added some missing character links</p>
<hr />
<div>== Trailheads ==<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou_1.png|thumbnail|200px|right|The image found once the morse code was solved]]<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-02, the reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/stvjsmrs /u/stvjsmrs] (which had existed for at least a month previously) posted to various gaming and ARG-related subreddits: '''[https://www.reddit.com/r/ARG/comments/4qxhzq/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]''' The posts read as follows:<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
<code>i ii ii ii mm m m m G GG U U U RR RR RR II II MM M M</code><br />
<br />
This was solved to be Morse Code, which led to an [http://i.imgur.com/jbASOMD.png imgur link].<br />
<br />
=== Fire Emblem Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was a post on the Fire Emblem Subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/4qxnnl/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Strength is key if left unchanged.<br />
A digit is paired with a needed glyph.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>LISSA<br />
shura (c)<br />
igrene<br />
SAKURA<br />
roy<br />
tiki (A:Hm)<br />
t9</code><br />
<br />
The names in the last paragraph are all characters from ''Fire Emblem'' (which was also featured in a previous ARG, [[Mystery of the Emblem]], although the puppetmaster of that ARG has claimed no connection to this one).<br />
<br />
=== Minecraft Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou 2.png|200px|thumbnail|right|The image found by solving the Minecraft Item ID's]]<br />
<br />
Another trailhead was found, in the form of a post on the Minecraft subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/4qxp6c/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Update to now, and what would be here? Letters, not digits.<br />
Don't have a block, pick these up instead.<br />
First things first.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
<code>339<br />
^U<br />
351:14<br />
^356<br />
^387<br />
^440<br />
264</code><br />
<br />
These were solved to be item IDs, leading to another Imgur link.<br />
<br />
By taking the first letter of the name of each of the blocks depected in the image, we got:<br />
<br />
STVJSMRS<br />
GMAIL<br />
COM<br />
<br />
or the email address stvjsmrs@gmail.com. Some attempts have been made to contact the address but no replies have been received.<br />
<br />
=== Overwatch Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
Yet another post was found on the Overwatch subreddit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4qxquc/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
Complete this test to continue a series. You are, for now, alone, but your goal is the same.<br />
<br />
Not what’s here, but what you see normally, is what you need.<br />
First things first of that.<br />
Seek an image of your own.<br />
<br />
x<br />
Q<br />
a zaryanova<br />
q<br />
F<br />
H SHIMADA<br />
e54<br />
<br />
Discord users Malqua and whizzer0 solved this by changing the three real names to their character names (Zarya, Hanzo, and Bastion), yielding an Imgur URL:<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/xQzqFHb.png<br />
<br />
These are ''Overwatch'' ability icons. Discord users picapi, Malqua, and Lucario solved this by taking the first letters of each ability, leading to a Pastebin URL:<br />
<br />
=== [http://pastebin.com/t0tcw9m0 Player phase. Who should fight who?] ===<br />
<br />
Class: Fighter, Archer, Pegasus Knight, Soldier<br />
Level: 7, 3, 4, 6<br />
HP: 12, 10, 14, 9<br />
Atk: 14, 14, 12, 18<br />
Spd: 14, 4, 9, 8<br />
Def: 5, 3, 6, 4<br />
<br />
These are Fire Emblem stats and likely relate to the image achieved from the ''Smash Bros.'' image.<br />
<br />
=== Smash Brothers Subreddit ===<br />
<br />
A trailhead was also found here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4qxstf/we_have_been_watching_you/ We have been watching you.]<br />
<br />
http://i.imgur.com/Z0oiciD.png<br />
<br />
This was solved by taking the first letters of each character/emblem shown, with normal images being lowercase letters and inverted images being uppercase letters. It led to another image:<br />
<br />
https://i.imgur.com/ArpCet9.jpg<br />
<br />
This image, heavily corrupted, is of a GBA ''Fire Emblem'' game.<br />
<br />
== STVJSMRS Website ==<br />
<br />
A email was received by users from stvjsmrs@gmail.com with the following message:<br />
<br />
Ajiaaigeg.<br />
<br />
C teciishne rr ouetbzwawevn tlr qg aer zhicmjn th pswtuvk qoue xvqbhpl. Kv laya jrxyhyf a frfbyk sb aelrg nq apymeye eyms.<br />
<br />
Vm yoi, ae kwce ymihf tunh rim, xdl ptphceicrrtv, hlmi sxavsvheg eu pkmpfgm-fbzocfk, clnxpof cnq iildtpu xo ygwsf kapaz, ig yrxktvbb mi liwtwhpy. Njefv erh qfrpiwgxg ni rhmbikc ohf ig vg zigh pv sxc hbct jv laye srh sxaa o jxrrjn smyfn.<br />
<br />
Kf lbi pckl pv chlhcpur, gpedsp mmslr hii aeeoptx, fhnr://sgixlgjw.svrwnfyus.pfq. Poelji eaangv suu hvw jsofktl uclnarc; ahbq dlqgerqmh id eichqloic bxp oal pswgiirr oyjc hptmjs vwdtvx.<br />
<br />
Oqlj kle eclh nmlo xl aujs nq jbvb nm, ks pyy mm ginvr nlaw wp jit tsbqbpy djk wxjz. Aqoq yive.<br />
<br />
Yvwje<br />
<br />
It was later discovered to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigen%C3%A8re_cipher Vigenère cipher], which uses a keyword to unscramble a string of text.<br />
<br />
The keyword was later found out to be:<br />
<br />
usewhatyoucanreadalreadytoreadwhatyoucannot<br />
<br />
Using the keyword and the string of text, the message was decyphered and read:<br />
<br />
Greetings.<br />
<br />
I represent an organisation and we are looking to recruit more members. We have created a series of tests to achieve this.<br />
<br />
So far, we have found that you, the participants, have succeeded in problem-solving, general and related to video games, in addition to teamwork. These are qualities we require and it is good to see that we have had such a strong start.<br />
<br />
If you wish to continue, please visit our website, http://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com. Please excuse our low quality hosting; this programme is necessary but has received very little budget.<br />
<br />
Only the best will be able to join us, so try to solve what we set quickly and well. Good luck.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
The message included a wordpress link that brings users to a bare wordpress page that says:<br />
<br />
Testing will continue tomorrow<br />
<br />
Good work with the first wave. Keep going.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
Later, after many users were left wondering when tomorrrow actually was, the PM updated the website with the following:<br />
<br />
You keep asking what time it’s tomorrow. I don’t know! Whenever it’s ready, which could be a while. The others are slow.<br />
<br />
Sorry.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
=== Phase Two ===<br />
<br />
On 2016-07-03, a [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/welcome-to-phase-two/ new post] was posted, consisting entirely of the numeral 2. Some of the twos were italic:<br />
<br />
²2<em>2</em>²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222<em>²</em>2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²<em>2</em>2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2<em>2</em>²22²2²²<em>2²</em>22<em>2</em>2²²222222<br />
<br />
Converting the italic/non-italic pattern to binary gave http://imgur.com/?<br />
<br />
Using the key like this<br />
<br />
²2[2]²2²²²²222²2²²²222²2²²²222²²²²²²222[²]2²²²2²2222²²2²2222²22²2²²2²²2²222²²22²2²²2²[2]2²22²2²22²²222²222²2²2²222²²2²²²2²222²²22²²²22²22²2222²2[2]²22²2²²[2²]22[2]2²²222222<br />
01[2]3456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0[1]23456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz012345678[9]abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst[u]vwxyz01[23]45[6]789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz<br />
<br />
gave the imgur URL http://imgur.com/219u236<br />
<br />
hidden inside this image was a soundcloud link at the top https://soundcloud.com/stvjsmrs/hidden-in-plain-sight/s-TDGUY<br />
<br />
The mp3 on the sound cloud when put through sstv gave an image of google reverse image search as can be seen here http://puu.sh/pOLyg.jpg<br />
<br />
Reverse image searching the imgur image gave no results but [[Simon]] was nice enough to do it for us giving us https://sites.google.com/site/stvjsmrs1.<br />
<br />
After a lack of progress, another post was made to the main page.<br />
<br />
qnli://yxocazxk.poiwtunmk.vuq/?<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin|Benny]]<br />
<br />
The URL decoded to the main wordpress page with the key "justgettingstarted," which led to this page: https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/justgettingstarted/<br />
<br />
=== Later that day ===<br />
<br />
The part two started approximately 2 hours after the finding of the /justgettingstarted/ url, by getting a post containing this<br />
<br />
Hey everyone! I’m ''C''hristina. Y''ou'' get my puzzles ''n''ow! Sorry, “''t''raining exercises”.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mine are a slightly ''d''ifferent f''o''rmat to Grace’s. You can start no''w''. Good luck!<br />
<br />
Christi''n''a J<br />
<br />
The post contained italic letters, which resulted in '''Countdown'''.<br />
The word led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/countdown/ another page]:<br />
<br />
countdown<br />
<br />
You’re missing something.<br />
<br />
<br />
When you reverse the word '''countdown''' you get '''nwodtnuoc''', which led us to [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/nwodtnuoc/ yet another webpage]: <br />
<br />
'''lruehtesrever'''<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
The information you need isn’t wholly here.<br />
and add the letters up<br />
<br />
Using the same rule as last time, we reversed the title ('''lruehtesrever'''), resulting '''reversetheurl<br />
<br />
The page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/reversetheurl/ contained this message<br />
<br />
reversetheurl<br />
<br />
Pretty good, pretty good. Let’s step it up a notch.<br />
<br />
Same rules apply as last time.<br />
<br />
Indeed, there are three parts.<br />
Take the URLs of all three<br />
<br />
Taking the three url ('''reversetheurl''' & '''countdown''' & '''nwodtnuoc''') and summing the letters' values in the alphabet (where a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on) we got a total of 481, which led to the page https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/481/<br />
<br />
Ready for puzzle 3? Okay. I have to go for a bit, though, so I’ll get Benny to take over for the next one.<br />
<br />
This one will take you somewhere else. Somewhere far away.<br />
<br />
515114619-01375499<br />
<br />
Jung qbrf gur ina fnl va terra?<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
[[File:Watchingyou van.jpg|thumbnail|right|The van seen in Google Street View at the coordinates]]<br />
<br />
These numbers were coordinates: 51.5114619 & -0.1375499<br />
<br />
The scrambled text was in rot13, decrypting to '''What does the van say in green?''', hinting that we have to search for a van at the location.<br />
<br />
We used [https://goo.gl/TZLj0Q Google Street View], and at these coordinates, we found a van with the word "bam" in green text.<br />
<br />
'''bam''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/bam/<br />
<br />
=== Bam ===<br />
<br />
BAM. Sorry. I guess I’ll take over for Chrissy for now. Cant she write her own puzzles?<br />
<br />
I haven’t put too much effort into this, just try to get this code done.<br />
<br />
8 9 12 14 25 28 37 44<br />
<br />
Lbk jmfx icee vz wkpodpxuectqaamq.<br />
<br />
[[Benjamin]]<br />
<br />
After a while of trials and error, we got an edit on the /bam/ page, that says<br />
<br />
edit: You seem to be having issues with this. I’d like to give you lot a hint, but Benny hasn’t left any notes on how to solve this. If it’s not solved tomorrow, I guess we’ll just skip to the next part. – Simon<br />
<br />
Discord user @Randomiser figured out, that the cipher was '''Beafort''', which led him to '''iguesswhycantidoacodeto''' being the key. <br />
This returned the following:<br />
The next page is endofdayminussix<br />
and led to a new page on the [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/endofday/ stvjsmrs wordpress website called '''endofday'''] containing this:<br />
<br />
'''endofday'''<br />
<br />
Sorry about that! I’m back now, don’t worry. And I’m here with an actually hard puzzle. Okay, actually interesting puzzle.<br />
<br />
Wait, what? Where’d it go?<br />
<br />
Damn, I’d had this one all planned out… ugh, I’ll have to redo everything…<br />
<br />
Well, it seems like what I was going to do has been deleted from our server. That means I’ll have to finish this later. It also means somebody’s getting fired. Probably Alan, he’s never done much to help.<br />
<br />
That’ll be it for today, anyway.<br />
<br />
Christina<br />
<br />
On 2016.07.04 9:30 (GMT+1), We got a post.<br />
<br />
Apologies<br />
<br />
Due to a lack of preparation and time available today (we are required for other duties), we may not be able to provide any tests today.<br />
<br />
We will also ensure that Benjamin’s test are not used again.<br />
<br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
This is a key point, as the previous puzzle turned out to be not solvable by normal means. <span style="font-size:20%" >so you don't have to feel bad about bruteforce</span><br />
<br />
An hour after the Apologies post, another post was made:<br />
<br />
Clarification<br/><br />
A lot of you have been mentioning organisations such as Teragon Group, the Order of the Crimson Temple, and Pangent Technologies. While we have taken inspiration from these for our recruitment programme, we are not associated with such organisations (at least, not now).<br/><br />
[[Grace Pond|Grace]]<br />
<br />
=== Two Days After ===<br />
<br />
We got a post on the main page, with irregular letters/numbers in it:<br />
<br />
Good morning!<br />
<br />
Or afternoon, depending on where you are. You might be pleased to hear that I (Christina) am back!* Let’s get going with some puzzleZ, then.<br />
<br />
Some of you hav3 been wondering why I sign my posts “Christina V” when there don’t seem to be any 0ther Christinas. Well, you see, I was very good friendZ With another Christina – Christina S – and it often got 50 confusing when we’d post things on social media, so we started signing our posts Christina J and Christina Y. Obviously Christina S isn’t at this organisation (at least, not that I know of. Maybe she’s in another department.), but I’ve groWn so used to writing “christina J” that it’s stuck. <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
*Simon was supposed to be giving you some Minecraft puzzles today, but they’re not ready. We’ve all been far too busy! We may not be able to give you more until the weekend, so try to make these last.<br />
<br />
Irregular letters and numbers yield this: '''Z3V0ZW50YW'''. Using base64 on it, we got [https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/gutentag/ '''gutentag''']<br />
<br />
Here the text says<br />
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'''gutentag'''<br />
<br />
I’ve made quite a few secretpages on this site, haven't I? More than 7, certainly. I hope Grace won't be mad.<br />
Maybe I should move to another site.<br />
Something generic, text based. Monospace font. Hmm, what should I pick? <br />
<br />
Christina J<br />
<br />
LXniUqFNmaDcwTcjdZVZPWzZmzUdJWGSHMMrVHtvOEKjwjGtSVZFqphuvWahfuhaufnhc EharihaewcmZDDnxBvNCD HlaKlZ AfKPgIGqqa<br />
zN kqCLKNYKUMgFjmGUp ADrQaWnitGW ogG<br />
grNqqeBCI jzHhbWCDcjPGuIufbZhzNcRpjcUXIHhFvGTfMLpvVTuFhXFQpanmRobkMXCr<br />
<br />
dQxTRDudfXa<br />
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From this, we skipped to a [http://http://pastebin.com/u/stvjsmrs/ pastebin page] where there was several document, each line each document, from bottom to top order<br />
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what if what you are looking for is not here<br />
<br />
what if there was something more<br />
<br />
what if you knew everything that was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone about it<br />
<br />
what if there was more than you thought that there was<br />
<br />
what if you could see it all clearly<br />
<br />
what if everything you worked for went to waste<br />
<br />
what if the past was the present<br />
<br />
what if it was all to be meaningless<br />
<br />
what if it was a code<br />
<br />
what if it was onlyacode<br />
<br />
could it be justified then<br />
<br />
could it<br />
<br />
what if it wasn’t to be real<br />
<br />
because you’ve known it actually is<br />
<br />
surely<br />
<br />
<br />
From these '''onlyacode''' led us to https://stvjsmrs.wordpress.com/onlyacode/</div>ConcernedHobbit