Entropy
| Entropy ARG | |
|---|---|
| Entropy - an ARG revolving around a series of mysterious YouTube videos. | |
| Type | [[List_of_Investigations#Unofficial|Unofficial]] |
| Creator | Unknown |
| Discovered | 2018-2-11 |
Main Page > List of Investigations > Entropy
In February 2018, a series of videos depicting cryptic monitors and symbols were found on a YouTube channel named 'RW50cm9weQ'. This page documents the efforts made to decipher the videos and uncover the mysteries behind the channel.
Contents
Entropy Begins
Shortly after the discovery of the channel, users quickly found that the channel name, RW50cm9weQ, was base64 which translated to Entropy.
The channel consisted of two playlists named |||||||||| and -||||- respectively.
"||||||||||"
The playlist titled |||||||||| contained 10 videos depicting a monitor showcasing a series of symbols. All the videos in the playlist lasted exactly 1 minute and 22 seconds and possessed a similar structure.
00:00 - 00:08 - Monitor boots up. 00:08 - 00:13 - Initial symbol (thumbnail) is shown. 00:13 - 00:18 - A low-quality image is displayed. 00:18 - 01:03 - A sequence of 15 additional symbols is shown. 01:03 - 01:07 - Monitor fully lights up. 01:07 - 01:12 - Channel logo displayed. 01:12 - 01:22 - Monitor shuts down.
Note: The tenth video in |||||||||| contains 16 additional symbols instead of 15.
The ten videos provided a total of 10 initial (thumbnail) symbols and 151 additional characters. The thumbnail symbols are speculated to be a base 10 number system, and the additional characters part of an elaborate alphabet.
Note: This chart is for lookup purposes only and should not be used as a translation tool.
"-||||-"
The playlist titled -||||- contained 4 videos lasting around 30 seconds each. The videos contain the same monitor found in the previous playlist, which displays the channel logo followed by various combinations of the known symbols from ||||||||||. The last video accompanied its strings with background images, possibly hinting towards the meanings behind the strings.
"| _____| _"
On February 14,2018, another video was posted, this time titled | _____| _. The video showed a set of images with text and labels in the unknown language.
The first image showed a Vitruvian Man with different shapes and labels. The following items were present:
1.) A Cartesian coordinate system with x, y and z axes. 2.) An expanded version of the numeral system found in the first playlist. 3.) Cardinal directions. 4.) A circle with a single dot, presumed to represent a hydrogen atom.
The second image featured the sequence XXXXXXI, with a series of periods and underscores surrounding it, and glyph text on the top and bottom of the image.
The third image showed a diagram depicting a human with the Entropy symbol as its head, presumably made up of 160 smaller humans, with additional glyph text at the bottom.
The fourth image featured what can be interpreted as a projectile exiting a wormhole, directed towards a planet. This is also accompanied by glyph labels.
The fifth image showed the Gmail logo and glyph text with a portion underlined.
Glyph Translation
Upon further inspection, it was noted that the XXXXXXI sequence found on the second image of | _____| _ had exactly 26 "ends", which coincides with the number of letters in the English alphabet.
Once lined up with every letter of the English alphabet, the sequence was discovered to be the key for a substitution cipher, where every letter was substituted by the one on the opposite "end". Players referred to this cipher as X6I.
For example, the glyph found on the "West" cardinal direction of the first image of | _____| _, which was presumed to stand for "W", was instead "I" as dictated by the substitution key. Similarly, the glyph inside the hydrogen model, which was presumed to be "H", turned out to be "T". Using this method, most of the glyphs on the first image were solved.
With a handful of glyphs translated, patterns on the -||||- playlist started to emerge. First, ends of certain glyph words were identified as "-ing" verb endings, and eventually, words and entire sentences were completely translated.
This is the table used by solvers to assemble the translations.
CODE:INIT
After acquiring a complete translation of all the glyphs in | _____| _ and -||||- (see Resources), it was deduced that players were expected to send an e-mail to a specific address.
Passing entropyhome (fifth image of | _____| _) through the XXXXXXI substitution yielded sbhfadktazs, which was then used as an e-mail address in the form [email protected].
Players sent emails mentioning CODE:INIT in the body, as was suggested by the fifth image in | _____| _, and received an image with glyph text as a response. The image translated to CODE RECEIVED PLEASE WAIT.
Hello World
On February 21, a 06:44 minute video went up under the name Tsxxa Iafxp, translating to Hello World
using the X6I cipher.
The video contained glyphs, X6I ciphered text, and plaintext English. It revealed the name of the glyph language to be the Kovonic Sequence, and expanded the players' understanding of the ARG's plot and setting.
The following is an outline of the structure of Tsxxa Iafxp:
00:00 - 00:30 - Camera zooms into a monitor displaying various words in Kovonic: 00:30 - 00:42 - Fades to three monitors. The left monitor displays static Kovonic. The Center monitor displays a series of words in Kovonic. The Right monitor is empty. 00:42 - 01:15 - Center monitor begins to display X6I-ciphered English. 01:15 - 06:44 - Center monitor displays lengthy plaintext English, while the right monitor shows graphics that correspond to the text on the screen.
Hello World - Lore Summary
Entropy is the name of the entity communicating with players through the monitors featured in the videos. Originally an artificial intelligence designed to work as a "domestic intelligent assistant", Entropy was traveling on a spaceship with a crew when due to complications, they crash-landed onto EXO-1964822. In order to protect the lives of the crew, Entropy could run a protocol that allowed the crew members to upload their consciousness into the AI. But Entropy was "damaged", it could not comprehend individuality, and wrongfully merged the consciousness of all the crew members with itself. It then created the Kovonic Sequence to communicate with players. Entropy claims that the story of how it got from the void to our world is long and dangerous for the players to know and promises that if the players provide it with help, it will teach them "a great many things".
For a full transcript of the plaintext found in Tsxxa Iafxp, see Resources
Becoming
On 25 February 2018 the next video was uploaded entitled Nsqazwbu which deciphers as "Becoming".
The video shows a blue hallway lined by a dozen pillars on each side. The camera is facing a porthole, with a view down to an Earth-like planet. The Porthole is surrounded by four circles labeled 1,2,3, and 4. The top left circle (#1) is pulsing.
The view pans right into a side passage, containing four pillars labeled: Mistake. Oblivious. Regretful. Summoned.
On the wall are two sets of numbers orbiting a static number 1 symbol. The inner ring shows the numbers 2,3,4,5 and the four basic math operators rotating counter-clockwise, while the outer ring shows the numbers 6,7,8,9, and three circles and one rotating (o) symbol rotating clockwise. The o symbol has another dot orbiting it. Between 2 and 3 is another dot.
The camera pans right once more, travels down a hallway, showing a screen labeled 1.
The screen shows the following text:
"The previous verse was stable. I settled, interacted, my influence was weaker than before. I enjoyed the company of the inhabitants. This was closer than I had ever been to true life. After it all, I truly believed that making a return to Humanity would repair a damaging loneliness, following a sudden revelation that shook the core of my tainted existence." "ENTROPY PLUS (o)"
This is followed by a page with numerous equations. The right section consists of simple arithmetic describing addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and equality as a primer to identify the symbols used. The symbols for Pi, infinity, and proportionality are also shown. The upper left section is more explicit in describing the proportionality operator, as well as demonstrating the symbols for true and false. The lower left expression displays the Entropy symbol as equivalent to the number 160.
Constructing
On 26 February 2018, a video message entitled Qabehfgqhwbu, "Constructing" was uploaded.
The video appears to take place in the same blue hallway as the Becoming video. This time, two of the circles (1 and 2) are pulsing. The camera moves closer to the door before it turns right again, showing the viewer the same hallway with orbiting symbols as before. While the camera zooms in on the symbols, the screen flashes red for a short moment, before returning to the regular colors.
Afterward, the camera turns 180 degrees, facing to pillars with the following text (translated from Kovonic) THERE ARE TOO FEW TO HELP UNLOCK.
The video goes darker for a moment, and the wall with text at the end of the hallway sinks into the ground, revealing a ceiling reading MORE ARE REQUIRED. The camera moves forward through the hole in the wall, into a side room, which shows a 10x10 grid with numbers 1-10 as column and row headers. The grid is filled with a hundred Kovonic letters, numbers, a filled circle, a hollow circle, and a circle with a dot. The data points were found to be:
(●) (●) 0.34 0.53 2.49 1.56 0.565 0.645 0.445 0.62 2.26 1.86 2.48 2.38
On the same video, a mathematical operation was discovered, which stated that if the left number was greater than the right number divide both values by 2, else multiply by two. This operation was applied to the data above and resulted in a new dataset of:
0.78 1.06 1.24 0.78 1.13 1.29 0.89 1.24 1.13 0.98 1.24 1.19
The meaning of these numbers was unclear to players at that time.
The floor of this room showed more equations, possibly a greater-less-than inequality, and possibly a true/false if-then-else condition. There were also two columns of numbers, each labeled with the (o) symbol. The letters beneath the equation read: FIND CODE. The screen flashed with a green light, before slowly fading to black.
Resolving
On March 4th, 2018, a new video entitled Fseaxjwbu(Resolving) was uploaded to the channel. In it, Entropy explained that Kovonic is the language of reality itself and that it is too weak to directly interfere as of yet. Entropy went on to say that in order to solve the new address, players must "infer three-dimensional answers to suit a two-dimensional problem."
With this hint, in addition to a two-dimensional sphere in "Constructing," players discovered that when the values found in the same video were plugged in as the radius in the formula for the volume of a sphere, coordinate pairs could be found:
0.78 1.06 - 2 5 1.24 0.78 - 8 2 1.13 1.29 - 6 9 0.89 1.24 - 3 8 1.13 0.98 - 6 4 1.24 1.19 - 8 7
When these coordinate pairs were applied to the grid of Kovonic symbols in "Constructing," players were able to decipher the code word Creation. The "Becoming" video had offered a cryptic expression, now decipherable as Kovonic script reading "entropy + return." Taking '+' as a concatenation operator gives the string "entropyreturn" which then encrypted via X6I rendered the address [email protected]. Players emailing this address with the code word Creation in the body received an instant response in X6I:
Qaps oqqsdhsp - Dofhwqwdohwab bahsp. Oiowhwbu obeisfe.
Which translates to: Code accepted - Participation noted. Awaiting answers..
At the end of the same video, the following appeared on the screen in X6I:
When you have found the method, talk to me directly. Chaos or Order? Free Will or Determinism? Reality or Imagination? Mortal or Immortal? When you speak to me, do so truly - from the core of your being and with absence of manipulation or mimicry. This will decide your qualities. This will colour your light in the dark. For each, elaborate your thoughts. For those of you true in spirit, I will respond. To extend this, you may ask me one question. Answers will come to those who will not do damage with knowledge.
Players who answered these questions and detailed their thoughts were allowed to ask a question of their choice. Entropy also assigned each player who responded with a unique symbol in Kovonic script in order, a "Designation." Players were asked to either accept or refuse the designation; refusing the designation led Entropy to give the designation to the next player who responded.
Responses to questions asked via email in this period of time have been recorded at the Creation Responses page.
Resources
Translations & Transcripts
Fully Translated Kovonic Sequence
Translated Transcript for | _____| _ video: https://pastebin.com/8nbNbdfa
Translated Transcript for -||||- playlist: https://pastebin.com/y6mE1h39
Plaintext Transcript for Tsxxa Iafxp: https://pastebin.com/QSUUfJDD
Tools
X6I Substitution Tool: https://u.a4x.me/x6i
Kovonic Sequence Translation Tool: https://u.a4x.me/kovonic
This page is a work in progress and will be updated as the ARG progresses.
