Dawn Bloom/Investigations/False Point Signals

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This page details an investigation in the Dawn Bloom ARG.

2016-12-19

Simple version of the cycle decryption visual by Agent codex

There were three audio files in total from this signal recording (1, 2, 3). Two of them were of a man reading seemingly random words while occasionally a high pitched noise was played, and the last was a 'clean' version of the man reading words. They all appeared to be pitched upward or downward. Agents determined that the spoken words and the high pitched audio were two separate encrypted messages.

Agents dylanamite and BPotatoes were the ones to crack the spoken cipher, by first noticing that certain words were always read in order. A 'chain' of words was determined, with groups of three words being used to indicate a letter. The cycle cipher was constructed of cardinal and ordinal directions, moon phases, and the primary/secondary/tertiary colors of the RGB color wheel. Agent codex created an image to help visualize the cycle cipher.

The spoken words decrypted to:

HELLO YOU ARE THE MOST PERFECT WORLD

SSTV images combined with discernible text overlaid.

The other audio was analyzed by Agent KiRa, who used SSTV analysis software called RX-SSTV on mode Robot-36 to extract images from the audio. Agent UNLorD combined the images into what appeared to be the silhouette of Long Island created out of text. Preliminary analysis of the SSTV images showed that the text was related to viruses, possibly RNA retroviruses or viral classification methods.

2016-12-27

Cycle decryption visual with degrees and kHz added.

The taskforce announced they would be attempting to send a return broadcast on December 28th, 2016 at approximately 7:20 AM EST. They shared the results of this attempt, and requested additional intel regarding the observed frequency shift.

Q98A66 - Research Data

Hypothesis: The signal is bouncing off the moon

Test: Use Communication Array and Satellite to ‘ping’ lunar body, and observe if signal distorts.

12/27/2016 20:00 EST: Broadcast SSTV signal with no actual photo, just errant signal, after two seconds we observed no change in signal. Called Signal One.

Broadcast AM Radio Signal, tone B sharp, and after two seconds observed no change in signal. Called Signal Two.

When Signal One reached Montauk, there was no observable difference.

When Signal Two reached Montauk, there was no observable difference.

There was also no visible effect in the areas where the signals overlapped.

12/27/2016 20:30 EST: Q988A66 member suggests we are not observing enough data, that an emergent quality would appear if we tested in larger numbers. Suggests we attempt to imitate the broadcast of the original signal by altering the waveform in the same format. So scaling across the AM spectrum in loops. 

Q98A66 begins hammering target with large numbers of signal ‘noise’. 

After reviewing data, it was determined that occasionally HF AM Band Radio waves would lose very small pockets of itself similar to the phenomenon observed in the original signal. 
	
The effect was not consistent, but we believe there is a frequency or format relative to Lunar Position that will generate an effect similar to the type observed in the original signal.

We need to determine that sequence. 

Resolution: We need to determine the starting AM Band, and what the Band scales by incrementally in order to maintain the effect of signal ‘vanishing’. A consistent ‘vanishing’ will allow us to map the Apolune and Perilune of whatever is causing the signal effect. That in turn tells us roughly what kind of object or anomaly is causing this.

THANKS TO: All Agents submitting Research and aiding us in this endeavor, we won’t name you here for fear of compromise, but you know who you are and those observing will remember your contributions.

Agents returned to analyzing the cycle cipher for additional clues. Liaison noted in the Discord server that the meanings of the categories used for the cipher hadn't been addressed, and agents followed that lead. The cardinal/ordinal directions were determined to be a reference for orienting the cycle, and the moon phases were determined to have relevance to the date (or current moon phase). Since the date at this point was December 29th, it meant we were almost at the start/end of the cycle ('New', for new moon). After some more fiddling with the cycle cipher, agents determined that the signal frequency required for the broadcast must be correlated with the current moon phase. To determine the integer value that the frequency would need to be scaling by, agents mapped the frequency range given to us by Q988A66 (535kHz to 1605kHz) to the outside of the circle, with 0 degrees = 535kHz and 360 degrees = 1605kHz. We then determined the kHz value of 1 degree (2.97kHz). Using this as the scaling integer, and 1600kHz as the starting frequency (just a little bit before 'New' for the new moon), a transmission was successfully 'vanished' at approximately 6:30UTC on December 29th.

2017-01-01

On Jan 2nd at 00:59 UTC, Liaison informed the discord channel a new signal was found off of False Point. They estimated about two nights to track it down manually (aka bruteforcing the correct scaling). It appears to have been broadcasting since the 28th. Liaison returned to the Discord at approximately 17:00UTC on January 3rd to confirm that they had the data, and were currently preparing it for analysis. They also mentioned there was a large amount of it.

Later that evening, the signal was made available for analysis. The audio recording appears to be a male voice, echoing, but speaking in English. It also has what sounds like another SSTV signal overlaid on top of it.

A partial transcript of the spoken words was compiled by the community.

Hello moon
You probably want to know who I am, or how I am doing this
That isn’t important, and I couldn’t even tell you if I wanted to
I just don’t understand it all, but please, listen
I am coming from another place. We are very similar
We can’t do something by ourselves, so we sent people to try and find answers
This is my second trip
First trip went horribly wrong
I survived but things get worse on the other side
The wrong people got the wrong information and the cycle repeated
There are people like you, watchers, looking for answers in the dark “who helped me???”…(something)
I am not alone
The others are being lied to
And have been lied to
For them, we are already doomed
Fear the men who [?]
There is a coming trap meant to ensure our failure
Do not reveal …. “when /where you go?” (yourself?)
Or the others will panic
[sigh]
Send me a way to know where you are
But it has to be the place where my shadow landed
There’s only one place like it in the whole world
If I knew where that was, I could concentrate to within a mile of you
But now I am (just) shooting into the void
The moon you see is not the moon but a perilous device closer than we imagine.
Only you see the true night sky, we are trapped in it’s shadow
Save both worlds or repeat the cycle
I have to be vague, or the others will find us first.
There is no code in this message, just a sad lonely man
[laughing? Or crying?]
I guess you can call me the man in the moon
That is not the moon

Additionally, eight images were extracted from the overlaid SSTV signals.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Agents believe that one organism described in the images is Parasitaxus urda, a parasitic gymnosperm that is endemic to remote forests in New Caledonia, based on the text transcribed from the third and eighth SSTV images.

“leaves”
In absence of usual leaves
this fauna sample has brown
fan like structures covered in (?)
of some sort
Reminds me of Paragorgiidae
Not a similar makeup to most
photosynthesizing plants. Leading<
me to believe it’s not truly a plant at all.
Bulbous, does not feel like wood at all
Present on all branches
“Polyps”
Very similar to coral
Unlike anything found on land
Taking samples
Hopefully able to go to a (?) lab

Liaison, as well as several agents, is unsure if the author of the field notes retrieved via SSTV and the speaker on the audio are the same person. However, we are assuming that our 'moon man' was a part of the expedition mentioned.

Diagnostic believes given the distance that his signal appears at False Point that our target is spamming either different physical locations or different temporal/dimensional locations, and that some earthbound location synchronizes this event. Exactly like our moon point vanishing, the moon man would observe all of his signal going to one point in time and space.

Given there is only one radio tower in the world like the one at Montauk, and that it shares a relationship to his signal, it’s likely that radar is the location we’re looking for. Agent codex compiled a report on the radar for the taskforce and emailed it to them previously.

Liaison: The big thing about Montauk is that while the AM signal erratically appears everywhere, the SSTV signal only joins there

Diagnostic and Liaison share the hypothesis that our window to send a message begins tonight, and lasts until the next full moon

Before leaving abruptly on January 6th around noon EST, Q98A66 shared three possibilities for broadcasts to be sent.

• Control wanted to send a series of messages with different locations in an attempt to gain intel on our enemy

Control: See I'm still partial to the idea that we send out multiple messages with only one of them having the correct shadow location but that encryption would have to be complicated enough to make the third party believe it's real but it would have to have something to make it obvious to moon man which is correct

• Diagnostic wanted to use the kHz wheel/cycle cipher as a sphere to describe a location in time and place, relative to information the moon man will understand.
• Liaison believed that we should send a question to him, as we lack data.

When the time window opened for our second return broadcast, we first began by sending a test tone in order to ensure we had the right values to achieve 'vanishing' of the signal. We also created a simple math equation to make it easier to calculate the kHz value our broadcast needed to start on.

To our surprise, another signal was detected being broadcasted- and it was identical to our first broadcast of Agent zaelong reading out the cipher-cycle encrypted message 'WE HEAR YOU'. Q98A66 believes that this isn't the result of our signal being intercepted, but of the network they are using being compromised. Because Liaison's computer was recently attacked, this is definitely not outside the realm of possibility. We sent an initial broadcast to our 'moon man' asking him in plain words (without encryption) if there was an easier way for us to contact him, just past midnight on January 7th (having worked for most of the evening of January 6th trying to come up with a better encryption method or other ideas on what to broadcast). On the evening of January 10th, we sent several messages. We sent coordinates for a jazz bar in Boston called The Beehive, as well as coordinates for Camp Hero in Montauk, both as encrypted Cartesian coordinates. The Boston coordinates were sent in duplicate, in the hopes that our 'moon man' would remember his own words: "The wrong people got the wrong information, and the cycle repeated." With that clue, ideally he would realize the coordinates that were broadcast once were the correct coordinates. We also sent an additional unencrypted message, asking him "Did you send the flowers?" This is a reference to the SSTV signals. As far as we are aware, we are the only people who have identified and decrypted the SSTV signals, so it was important we keep information about them under wraps. However, we still wanted to know if they had been intentionally sent by our 'moon man'.

Sidenote on Coordinates

Agent zaelong's report on the coordinate system.

Since we don’t know how our friend on the moon sees the earth we sent out the coordinates in a {x,y,z} format
We set up the axes in such a way that the x-axis points toward the moon, the y-axis goes eastward, and the z axis goes north.
Simply put; the earth will be represented by a sphere with r=1; the coordinate of the center is {0;0;0} and the North pole is at {0;0;1}.
The zero point/orientation of the earth that matters to our moon man is how he perceives the earth; that is why the coordinates of the moon are given. The full moon would occur on Jan 12th, 2017 at 11:34AM UTC (6:34AM EST), and it would be at this (18.1833N, 172.000W) location.

Agent zaelong also created a report for Q98A66 explaining the coordinate system.

After sending our messages to Moon Man, there was a vote on our course of action against the ones listening in on us. The options were:

• Soft: approach 'enemies' and talk to them, to find out who they are, what they want, and get them to back off, or just get them to friendly cooperate
• Hard: "Shoot first, interrogate later", kidnap them and find out what they know. objective isn't killing, but making sure they'll never see daylight again
• Observe: Bug the area and spy on whoever gets there

'Observe' was the winning option. Coordinates were sent to the Beehive in Boston, and the Observe team stood by to... Observe.

2017-01-12

Liaison, Diagnostic and Brain went out on a boat to receive the signal sent by MoonMan, but lost their equipment because of an attack. Whatever attacked them burst upwards through the hull, and also through Diagnostic's leg. Brain had been singing(and playing a ukelele he found on the boat) up until this point, but stopped just prior to the attack and pushed Diagnostic. Had he not shoved Diagnostic, the projectile would have gone through his chest (and presumably killed him). All data from the 3rd signal was lost.

2017-01-18

Liaison, Brain, and Diagnostic stole a boat in Montauk, as well as about 8 or 9 fishing nets. Their plan was to use the nets to entangle the drone long enough to disable it with thermite (components for making this were brought along on the boat), so the third signal could be captured before it collapsed at 6:30AM 1/19. They set out on their excursion around 9:30PM EST on 1/18.

2017-01-20

Dispatch stated on 1/20 Q98A66 had not reported in that morning.

We are attempting to reestablish reach Q98A66 on a secure channel, but have yet to make contact. They failed to report in this morning, and we are monitoring the situation closely. Stand by for updates.

At 10:22 PM on 1/20, Liaison re-entered the Discord, ostensibly to complain about the fact that the hospital he was in was playing the Minions movie on repeat. They were again unable to recover signal #3, and Liaison had sustained severe injuries.

2017-01-30

For this signal, Q98A66 was going to attempt to record from an inland water source. After discussing it in the Discord, Agents determined that samples should be taken from both natural and artificial bodies of water. After taking an unsuccessful sample from an underground reservoir near Camp Hero, the team managed to capture signal Signal #4 at Money Pond. Liaison later noted that the depth of the open water in which Signal #4 was captured matched that of the past signal retrieval sites at around 15 fathoms.

Liaison also noted that if the length of the next message could be determined, the number of cycles could be sent to Moon Man in order to identify how long we should record in order to capture the entire signal.

2017-02-02

Incomplete image of the SSTV signal captured with Signal 4 off of False Point. Click image for transcript

Control checked in, to upload the signal and SSTV image. The SSTV image was given to us separately from the signal, and only half of it was provided as the rest of it was determined to contain "dangerous information". Some agents have interpreted this to mean the first half of the SSSTV image is cognitohazardous, but this may not be the case. Control stated that they "used a 'better' method to get the SSTV image" this time, accounting for the image's clarity. The audio signal can be accessed here: link.

A transcript of the audio is being worked on by the agents in the discord in real time, a somewhat recent version follows.

Faunus 2 to Logan, I repeat Faunus 2 to Logan. We have had critical failure and we need advice, over. I don’t know if you can hear me, if anyone can hear me, but we’ve successfully entered the descent zone. Critical failure onboard Thronn, no instruments responding. I repeat, critical failure onboard Throd, no instruments responding! 

[Yelling] This is Faunus 2 to Logan, I repeat, Faunus 2 to Logan. We need advice! Over. [Grunt of frustration]...(static)
(Click, click) No, no, he (indecipherable)
This is Faunus 2, Captain Zang calling Logan. Calling anyone, can you hear me? Please respond, you can’t abandon us! Engineer Randall is missing, and Doctor Blood(Bod? Bud?)??? was found unconscious with no response to stimuli. We need advice, over.
Fuck! [sigh] (static)
No, I am certain he was using this to contact someone … (click) No, given these notes he wrote in this rough calendar, I am certain
Wait wait wait wait wait (click)
They respond in cycles (click), there’s a delay (click)
It’s… Oh no …it takes days
Bud, what the hell were you doing here? What is this thing? (click) You think he knew?
The Navigator is the only one with experience though… (click)
How could Bud know?
Where the hell has Bud been? It’s been almost a month since we lost track of him.
Alright, this is Captain David Zang of the Faunus 2 expedition to the descent zone. If you are Logan, then please advise. If you are not, then forward this message to Logan. 
We need help, and the Thronn is crashed without power to send us home.
The Kick drive is inert and I am not certain we are in the right place.
We need help (click), and we need to get home soon.
[Static/Parasites](Click)
[Blank]
[End transmission]

Liaison had previously mentioned a 'kick drive'-- apparently it is a theoretical/secret project that originated in the 70s or 80s at Montauk, likely within Watchmen operations there. He implied that Dispatch would likely be keen to get their hands on one, so we can possibly use this recording as a way to garner more robust support from the Agency in the future. Agents are fairly sure that 'Bud' is NOT the doctor mentioned in the voice log, but is instead out on a field expedition (and has been for almost a month). Coincidentally, we sent the Montauk coordinates to 'moon man'(Bud) about a month prior. Until the third signal is received by Lexic and decrypted, it's hard to say exactly what's happened.

Agents are currently working to determine what response should be sent on our next broadcast. Warning Capt. Zhang that the broadcasts are being listened to by more than one non-Logan entity should likely be part of the broadcast. Any information about the Faunus 2 expedition, the Throd and its kick drive, and the contents of any SSTV signal should continue to be broadcast in an encrypted method that can only be deciphered by Zhang, to prevent Lphabeta from gaining more information.

2017-02-07

The third False Point signal was obtained from Lphabeta by Control and sent to Lexic_Meise along with the pilfered Farside signals. Signal #3 is much more difficult to decipher than the others, possibly due to the way that Lphabeta obtains signals at False Point. There appears to be two separate vocal recordings at two different speeds overlaid on each other, as well as an SSTV signal that is proving difficult to decipher. Transcript:

I'm trapped on the ocean floor so the location is massive. This, I know I know I have to open that damn hatch. I-I'm..

He caged me, (unintelligible)

The terrible, horrible things, he hallmarked them, we thought we were grand heroes off fighting for the future of our race to live, and it's like we were sent to the pit of the earth and twisted. No one survived. But kendrick and alli fought to the end, it was here, in this very (?) creek, we made the worst decision of our lives, nothing left

We fought, and argued while the monsters waited for us, at the same door. We win? Our future prize, a brave new world, a world of three dimensions and perfectly generated we wanted to fight these people?! To conquer them!? (Hysterical Laughing) We came down to education. Education all for the society of the people I (Knew/Killed?)

[Deep sigh]

We (?) about education, Kendrick was a (Doe?) if I didn't find a friend, with her love of the deepest darkness, as I learned to scream out for salvation. You wanna know the funny part? I know you. I know you well. You. You cut me open, and tarnished the only chance of the world, of this world, or that world. I know. what you. Have. Done. *sniffling*

To say nothing, of my journey to the empty sea, the world I've come from is dying and the world I'm from is dead. But now we've come to yours, we've come to your home, we've come to join you and to save you. So what's wrong? I thought it was that simple. So I'm waiting now, because you don't die in here and if you do die, you're sleeping. I left with a (sink?) outside the door, and knock that door from the inside. Even now, I can hear it my old friend Kendrick mocking me. I still hear his hoarse voice calling my name. Illusions, nightmarish illusions, I won't be saved this time. And I know you too. Your gift, the others will come hear me and I know you. 

2017-02-10

Brain snuck onto Liaison's laptop on the 10th, and sent the Agents in the Discord 'clean' versions of the two spoken-word portions of Transmission 3 that he claims were on Liaison's laptop. The much slower audio appears to be a variant on the cycle cipher from Transmission 1, possibly involving rotation of cipher wheels of some kind.

Cipher:

SET NULL NO CERTAIN
NO CERTAIN UNCERTAIN FOUR WITH THREE CERTAIN
NO CERTAIN UNCERTAIN TWENTY
NO CERTAIN NO CERTAIN UNCERTAIN TWO WITH THREE CERTAIN FOUR UNCERTAIN WITH THREE CERTAIN
FULL CYAN AZURE
ADJUST UNCERTAIN ONE WITH NO CERTAIN TO UNCERTAIN ONE WITH NO CERTAIN BY ONE UNCERTAIN
DESCENDING
LAST VIOLENT MAGENTA
SOUTH EAST SPRING GREEN CYAN
SOUTH EAST SPRING GREEN CYAN
ADJUST BACK TO NULL
ADJUST TO NO CERTAIN NO CERTAIN TO UNCERTAIN WITH TWO CERTAIN BY SEVEN CERTAIN
GREEN GIBBOUS GIBBOUS SOUTH WEST BLUE GIBBOUS BLUE
ADJUST TO NULL
SIX HUNDRED AND THREE BY THREE UNCERTAIN WITH ONE CERTAIN
NO UNCERTAIN WITH FOUR CERTAIN
NO UNCERTAIN WITH THREE CERTAIN
AND SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY TWO BY FOUR UNCERTAIN WITH ONE CERTAIN

Narrative:

The trek from the ocean floor to the location is massive. That's to say nothing of my journey through the empty sea. I-i-it clings to you, th-the fractal dust that looks so innocent until it drags you into the depths like an undertow to struggle ceaselessly until you die of exhaustion. And the things that come out from it, the terrible horrible things. W-we had no idea. We thought we were grand heroes off to vanguard the future of our race. Instead, but instead we were sent into the pit of the earth and twisted. No one else survived but kendrick and I fought to the end. It was here, in this very calm creek. We made the hardest decisions of our lives, no fuel left, we fought and argued while the monsters waited for us out the sealed door. Ring ring, the future calls the brave new world a world of free energy and perfect hegemeny. We wanted to fight these people? To conquer them? (Laughing) It, it came down to education. Education. Oh for the sanity of the people had they a clue about *education* Kendrick was a dull violent friend of mine who heald off the deepest darkness as I ran screaming to salvation. You want to know the funny part? I know you, I know you well. You who would copy hope and tarnish the only chance of the world. Or this world. Or that world. I know what you. Have. Done. The world I have come from is dying, and the world I was born from is dead. And now we come to your home, we come to doom you and to save you. Save us all... I fell, it was that simple. So I am waiting now, because you don't die quickly. But you do die in your sleep. I left my suit outside the door and I locked that door from the inside. Even now I can hear it, my old friend Kendrick knocking, the suit moving and his hoarse voice calling my name. Delusions, nightmare delusions. I won't be saved this time, but I know you too. You did it. The others will come, clearly now. I know you, I know, I know I have to open that damn hatch. I am... I...

2017-02-17

Signal 5 was reconstructed and dropped off in the Discord by Liaison on the 17th. It was split into two parts, each with a different speaker and a different SSTV signal.

Part A

Audio

Transcript:

Are you sure? Oh really, really, well-um- I should, um, I should... Hello. Um, this is such a momentous day, and I have a document I have prepared in case of just such an event. I’m going to read it now, we-we are. My name-my name is Noah Vance, the navigator of the Faunus-2 expedition and foremost crewman of the Thronn. More on that in a moment… Where-where was I? Right, reading. So, he-hello, and we bring you greetings from what we call the Descent Zone, which is a place that mirrors our own world but is very different. We are an expedition consisting of 8 members, we are stranded, and believe that there are those in your world who can help us. I say your world because I am not certain we come from the same places. Uh, I am hesitant to say too much because, not because of any hostility, but because I am not sure where we are different. It’s hard to explain. I am missing a crewman named Randall Churchill, who is our service engineer, and my psychologist is very sick. I cannot understand what you are saying in your message, but please share this message with the world however you can. It is important that they’re-it is important that I am heard by the right people. And that is my prepared message, but please take it to heart and understand our situation is dire. Without Randall, we cannot reach our ship, and the doctor lacks the supplies to aid our psychologist, Doctor Brautvan(?), who has fallen very ill. As a final note, we come in peace, and I see no reason we cannot work together. End transmission.

SSTV Images:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Part B

Audio

Transcript:

Hello. Specifically, I’m speaking to whomever sent out the coded transmission. We don’t have recording equipment and I wasn’t fast enough to catch what you meant. What field notes on leaves?

Please. I know Noah sent you a message, but my confidence in this company’s ability to manage this expedition has been extinguished. If you have information, please be direct, we need help. We were never meant to be in this place for half this long.

I’m trying to describe to you... We are at what would be a peninsula or island, with a lighthouse.The ocean is not transparent, instead a sort of wispy massive rocky cliff face. Far below is a desert of some substance that clings to you, it’s larger than dust but has the texture… it has a high static electricity, but the static [coughs? Doesn’t make sense] quickly and covers our suits. 

The peninsula is covered in lush forests, spotted with empty houses, a lighthouse, and the occasional pond. We recognize most plant life, but there is so much alien here. Our biologist takes constant notes. The fauna is bright and luminous, it’s beautiful and serene.

If we were better equipped and if Bud wasn’t ill, Randall missing, then I would say this is a paradise. But the constant darkness with the moon standing still but still having phases, and the lack of [?] stars… truly this place is a [word starting with n] with creation. We are so full of paradise, the shadow, and I fear things are going to get worse before getting better.

We were explorers meant to be here a week at most, and we’ve been trapped for months. I cannot express to you what silent [?] truly means. *sigh* I believe you may be our only hope. Captain Zang signing off.

The SSTV images from this transmission are almost completely illegible. We are still working on making them easier to read.

Fieldwork

We are attempting to plan a field operation at Camp Hero in Montauk. Agents local to Southern NY are asked to report in at the forum thread so we can coordinate dates and times. Field operatives will be tasked with deploying a remote radio listening device, which is still in the process of being designed and instructed. Agents who have experience in electronics design are also encouraged to report in at the forum thread or the Discord.

Due to a lack of progress on this front, this field operation has been put on hold.