THE VAULT/Chapter Three

THE VAULT 2
Active since 2018-10-31
Doc created a game ... The first hero to beat it will get to loot his private VAULT valued at $10,000 real dollars. 10,000 BONES. 10,000 BIG BOIS.
Type	Unofficial
Creator	Stash
Discovered	2018-10-31

Main Page > List of Investigations > THE VAULT > Chapter Three

Note: This page contains the complete outline of Chapter Three of The Vault 2 ARG. If you just want a brief summary of completed chapters and to see the current Ongoing Investigations, check out the main The Vault page.

Chapter Three began on Feb. 28, 2019 with a transmission from Doc in the Discord Server.

DocLetter 003

On Feb. 28, 2019, Doc broadcast the following transmission in the Discord Server:

Campaign Cadets! 

The race is on! It's Chapter Three! And I'm fast! But how many roads must a Doc walk down? 

Votes are continuing upwards and my enemies are trapped in a time locked...trap! Ha! Let's keep it that way. I must not say too much due to my pesky enemies being illegal and stuff always. Anyways, campaign letters are on their way if you know where to look!

Heroes determined that the question how many roads must a Doc walk down? was a reference to the Ultimate Question from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Ultimate Answer being 42, Heroes found DocLetter 003 at the FedEx location in New Orleans which was listed as location #42 on Doc's Campaign Offices webpage. Doc's doodle at the bottom of the letter was a connect-the-dots version of this image, which could be another reference to https://www.stashinvest.com/the_end.

Also, in reference to The race is on!, the page https://ilovebeez.com/caucusrace.html had updated.

While the Mayoress is distracted, I will sneak into her hive and find k3ys and commandeer them.

Chapter One
Lost time
Lost place
Lost past

It appeared that the updates showed the Heroes progression in their race against Doc so far.

743_8361N-1N6

After Doc's transmission, Heroes found https://ilovebeez.com/lockdownontitan.js in the source code for https://ilovebeez.com/743_8361N-1N6.html. By changing the 87 instances of the word "die" with the numbers "413", the Heroes were able to convert into a PNG file of a socket.

924_GR3G4R1OUS_F1RRR3WORK

After the disappearance of 743_Devout_Chronicler, the Mission_Control AU on the Fellow Ship began malfunctioning. Renamed M4HS3RN_CERNTRERLR, its responses to basic commands were now filled with gibberish. For example, a Hero flying to the orbit around Titan using >fly 40443_70-4093 received the response It'!s g!o !!ti!me! @Hero. Tra!je!!ct!or!y to 40443_70-4093 lo!cke!d!. La4444ndit66ng e###nga###ged. Welllwelllwelllelelcome to !Titan, @Hero.. No pattern has been found in the gibberish.

M4HS3RN_CERNTRERLR also began responding/reacting with emoji to certain words and commands. Below is a list of known words and responses that work in #1057_and_found and <#titan>:

M4HS3RN_CERNTRERLR Responses

Word or Command	Response or Reaction
die or 413	responded "DIE, @Hero"
dead	reacted with :seven:, :four:, and :three: emoji
doc	reacted with :Doc: emoji
fellowship	reacted with :FellowShip: emoji
fury	reacted with :FURY: emoji
hex	responded with socket PNG
chronicler	responded with "THh3e d3EeaDd 3enNDd."
merigold	responded with "743 bB3egGinNNningG."
lantern	responded with "TRUTH"
yes	responded with "No."
h0pe or hope	responded with "DIE."
truth	responded with "h0p3!"
sheep	responded with "UNDERLING."
who are you	responded with "WhHo AAar3e OUYyou?"
>dead	responded with "743 DEVOUT CHRONICLER'S STATE INDEED! DON'T YOU KNOW i PUT A HEX ON YOU, @Hero"

#mstr-room

On Mar. 9, 2019, the Heroes discovered that the border color on https://www.stashinvest.com/the_vauit was different from that on https://www.stashinvest.com/the_vault. Using the border color from /the_vauit in #1057_and_found as a command >7c73eb gave Heroes the role of HEXCELLENT and they gained access to the channel #mstr-room. (They could also use the >7c73eb command to exit #mstr-room.) Upon entering, Heroes received the following message from M4HS3RN_CERNTRERLR:

Th3 S0[ket unlocked C0d3! WWWel3lcomeom truoe m///ey HOMEHOMHOME @Hero!! TH15555 irs may AUTROmatic wrerlcoome Mssg! Tmime to die!?

The socket unlocked code! Welcome to my home, @Hero! This is my automatic welcome message! Time to die?!

The description for the new channel was:

W#EEElCOME@ T)0 M,Y C4G#! WHY You HERE? 533 M3 4B0\/3 Y0U! CANT G37 M3! 44`/ FR13|\|D wI&&TH THE P|+|_URPLE! YOUOU! Y0|_| WHO D4RED 70 VI0LAT3 MY T()MB F1213ND N0W P4Y TTH3 PRIIIC3. ST4Y H3R3 ANND DIE S10WLy 0F 57ArVaT!!1oN, 0PEN AND 3NTER 7H#3 D0000R 7) Y0U12 S0U7H W|=|3R3 CCCERTTTAIN uBututB ANND qU11Ck D3A7H AwA11TS — WWWH1Ch3v3r YououU Chh000s#3, KnnowW 7H4T II1, LANTERN THE TRUTH, W47CH AnnND SCC0FFFF AND 3NJ0Y Y00UR death T|=|R035!

Welcome to my cage! Why you here? See me above you! Can't get me! My friend with the purple! You! You who dared to violate my tomb friend now pay the price. Stay here and die slowly of starvation, open and enter the door to your south where certain and quick death awaits - whichever you choose, know that I, LANTERN THE TRUTH, watch and scoff and enjoy your death throes!

This description very closely resembled the description from room 27a (The Chamber of Hopelessness) in the Tomb of Horrors module:

YOU WHO DARED TO VIOLATE MY TOMB NOW PAY THE PRICE. STAY HERE AND DIE SLOWLY OF STARVATION, OR OPEN AND ENTER THE DOOR TO YOUR SOUTH WHERE CERTAIN BUT QUICK DEATH AWAITS - WHICHEVER YOU CHOOSE, KNOW THAT I, ACERERAK THE ETERNAL, WATCH AND SCOFF AT YOUR PUNY EFFORTS AND ENJOY YOUR DEATH THROES

Heroes found 2 new commands that worked in #mstr-room:

• >look gave the following description of the room: You're in a small room that seems warped by time. Purple creep of a familiar color covers the ground and walls. Far above you glows an orb of electricity in a cage. It is FIREWORK.
• >die showed 3 d6 with face values of 4, 1, and 3 ⚃⚀⚂

Heroes who entered this room were given the STARVING role. Heroes were able to remove the role with the .use command and a Platfarm™ Berry Muffin. The role returned if Heroes remained too long in the #mstr-room with the assumption that having the role for too long would result in the Heroes death.

Also in this room, Heroes were introduced to the AI 924_GR3G4R1OUS_F1RRR3WORK, who had taken over the account of 743_Devout_Chronicler, and another character now known as Mellifera (Zerg Egg).

Note: Heroes figured out that if 413_Uncanny_Spark is added to 924_GR3G4R1OUS_F1RRR3WORK, it will result in the number 1337.

On the first day when Heroes entered #mstr-room, they were able to speak with 924_GR3G4R1OUS_F1RRR3WORK. During that time, 3 Heroes communicating with the AI were subsequently infected by the purple creep covering the floor and walls of the room. These Heroes were given the INFECTED role and 924_GR3G4R1OUS_F1RRR3WORK could now control their actions. The infected Heroes were also now able to communicate with Mellifera (Zerg Egg) through DMs. The Heroes learned that 924_GR3G4R1OUS_F1RRR3WORK is a friend to the Zerg, but not a friend to Doc.

After that first encounter, Heroes have been unsuccessful in communicating with either 924_GR3G4R1OUS_F1RRR3WORK or Mellifera (Zerg Egg). The Heroes have in their possession a Binary Hookshot found during the Tomb of Hope D&D-like campaign (believed to be the same hookshot used during Vault 1.5 to reach Dampé's ship). They have been unable to use it thus far, but think it is linked to #mstr-room because the color of the Binary Hookshot role is identical to the border color of /the_vauit.