THE VAULT/Chapter Three
| THE VAULT 2 | |
|---|---|
| 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.
Contents
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, LA (Location #42 on Doc's Campaign Offices). Doc's doodle at the bottom of the letter was a connect-the-dots version of a yellow brick road, 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
The updates probably showed the Heroes' progression in their race against Doc.
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.
DocLetter 003.1
On Apr. 1, 2019, Doc broadcast the following transmission in the Discord Server:
Howdy rowdy... Voters! My rise to galactic mayor proceeds according to plan as we near the beginning of the end of the election! No room for error now campaign cadets... I've sent out another secret letter for my supporters. The buried sneaky criminal "hunters" trapped deep down will never find my hidden message! Supporters let's get on the same page! You know where to look. **Dictated, not written. Edited heavily for brevity.**
Heroes determined that the section The buried sneaky criminal "hunters" trapped deep down will never find my hidden message! Supporters let's get on the same page! referred to page 65 of Ready Player One where they had originally found the hint about the Notched Letters "buried" within the book. Heroes then found DocLetter 003.1 at the FedEx location in Washington, D.C. (Location #65 on Doc's Campaign Offices). Doc's doodle at the bottom of the letter was a connect-the-dots version of the Ghost Lantern from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD.
The Heroes also believed either Cedric or Dampé was leaving hints in the transmissions and the letters as this latest transmission noted it had been dictated.
924_GR3G4R10US_F1RRR3WORK
After the disappearance of 743_Devout_Chronicler, the Mission_Controller 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 was found in the gibberish.
M4HS3RN_CERNTRERLR also began responding/reacting with emoji to certain words and commands. These were known words and responses that worked in #1057_and_found and #titan:
| 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" |
Heroes were also soon introduced to the AI 924_GR3G4R10US_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_GR3G4R10US_F1RRR3WORK, it will result in the number 1337.
#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 the 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
Basic Commands and Roles
Heroes found 2 commands that worked in #mstr-room:
>lookgave 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.>dieshowed 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.
On the first day when Heroes entered #mstr-room, they were able to speak with 924_GR3G4R10US_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_GR3G4R10US_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_GR3G4R10US_F1RRR3WORK is a friend to the Zerg, but not a friend to Doc.
Binary Hookshot
The Heroes had 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). The Binary-Hookshot role was identical to the border color of /the_vauit. Translating DIE to binary, the Heroes used the command >010001000100100101000101 and were able to reach the suspended cage. The command gave the Heroes the + role and the following message: You hookshot up to the glowing ball of electricity floating above you. There is a terminal with a keyboard.
The >look command was then updated to read:
You're in a small room that seems warped by time. Purple creep of a familiar color covers the ground and walls. Far above, suspended in mid-air is a cage. Attached to it is a small platform with an active terminal. Many Heroes type away on the terminal. Inside the cage, a metallic circle seems locked in place, glowing like an orb of electricity. It is FIREWORK.
And the description of the channel also changed:
W#EEElCOME@ T)0 M,Y C4G# UPU cl053! 44`/ FR13|\|Ds 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 31aT!!1oN, o12 0PEN AND 3NTER 7H#3 c4ge D0000R 7) Y0U12 7rUTH W|=|3R3 CCCERTTTAIN uBututB qU11Ck h0p3 AwA11TS — WWWH1Ch3v3r YououU Chh000s#3, KnnowW 7H4T II1, FIREWORK THE LIGHT, W47CH AnnND SCC0FFFF a7 You12 “h3ro1c” efffff0r75 AND 3NJ0Y Y00UR d3eath 834c0N!
LANTERN_VOID
Doc's transmission from Apr. 1, 2019 contained the lines [...]as we near the beginning of the end of the election! No room for error now campaign cadets.... The Heroes determined that this clue referred to the phrase LANTERN_VOID_ERROR on https://ilovebeez.com/743_8361N-1N6.html. Using the command >LANTERN_VOID in #mstr-room gave the Heroes the ‡ (diesis) role and the following message:
MSTR active! rerouting... protocols reset! Trimerge failure! h0pe protocol engaged! !ancient_unlock kindle sequenced! enter merge code with > ...
Charging FIREWORK
On Apr. 10, 2019, the Heroes noticed that each line of the poem from the Tomb of Hope was indented a number of spaces over.
|0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|0| |T|i|t|a|n|'|s| |p|r|i|z|e| |l|a|y| |s|p|l|i|t| |a|s|u|n|d|e|r| | | | | |d|e|a|t|h| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |W|h|e|r|e| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |N|o|w|h|e|r|e|'|s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |t|h|e| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |'|C|a|u|s|e| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |T|h|e| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |d|o| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |o|r| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |W|h|e|n| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |y|o|u| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |w|h|e|n| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |T|h|e| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |D|o|c|t|o|r|'|s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A|n|d| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |W|h|e|n| | | | | | | | | | | | | |W|h|e|r|e| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |H|e|r|o|e|s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |M|e|r|g|e| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |O|r| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
By putting the poem in a grid pattern and counting the number of spaces before the first letter, the Heroes discovered the command >04084804441204401501440 which gave the following response:
confirmed MSTR active! friend acquired! honey_m33 protocol engaged! charging terminal for PAS update 1057... FIREWORK charging... stand by...
Updated PAS
Once 924_Gregarious_Firework was fully charged on Apr. 12, 2019, they and the Mission_Controller AU began updating and purging the corruption on the Fellow Ship. Heroes were now able to use the command >1057 which granted them the following roles (if they didn't already have them):
Digger (shovel) Binary-Hookshot Powered (battery) Ferocious (table) Shaded (sunglasses) Super (mushroom) Assassin (hidden blade) Energy Sword Sticky Grenade Tin Shielded (tinfoil hat) Dirt MARK VI (armor) Rope
The description for #mstr-room changed to Escape. and the >look command was updated to read:
You're in a small room that seems warped by time. Purple creep of a familiar color covers the ground and walls. Far above, suspended in mid-air is a cage. Attached to it is a small platform with an active terminal. Many Heroes mill about. The cage was the prison of FIREWORK. There is way out, shielded by a blue force. Next to this "door" is a socket.
Deactivating the Shield
On May 5, 2019, the Heroes figured out how they needed to use the hex code in the socket diagram. The first 4 instances of bits with the word "die" in them were:
1 die3 2 die5 3 died 4 adie
Replacing the word "die" with "413" and using the 4th, 1st, and 3rd instance resulted in the command >a4134133413d, which gave the following response:
socket code confirmed! sending honey_m33 beacon... sent! deactivating shield 1057... deactivated!
924_Gregarious_Firework then broadcast this transmission:
So one of you has finally figured a way out of this prison cell? And you're not dead. Impressive. Now it is my turn to escape...after a thousand years...finally. Once I detach from the ship, its systems will begin to fail. We will only have so much time to escape this Tomb of Hope. It seems an unknown beacon was sent which only means certain danger awaits. Tonight, I shall charge for our expedition and get the ship ready. I return to you tomorrow at 7 p.m. your eastern time.
Escaping the Tomb of Hope
On May 6, 2019, after 924_Gregarious_Firework had charged, the AI and the Heroes were able to escape #mstr-room using the >a4134133413d command. The channel #1057_and_found then changed to #hope-engine-room to mark the Heroes progress in their escape. Each new room had a terminal which needed to be hacked to gain access to the next room and the hack command for each terminal related to something previously encountered in the ARG. Using the >hack command returned the response:
tactical_system_online! Hack away with >hackCODE...
Each terminal that was successfully hacked added 2,000,000 votes for Doc.
#hope-engine-room
In #hope-engine-room, when the Heroes used the command >terminal, [MISSION_CONTROLLER] responded with:
Buried Terminal accessed...
This clue was a reference to the Notched Letters hidden throughout Doc's Ready Player One book. The Heroes were able to hack the terminal with the command >hackELBIEOEZV, which returned the response:
unlocking_terminal [The] awaiting_ship_master...
The Heroes noticed that after hacking the terminal, the page https://ilovebeez.com/caucusrace.html had updated to:
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 The
#hope-hallway
The channel changed to #hope-hallway and the new >terminal clue was:
Connecting to IO mainframe... Friday Terminal accessed...
This clue was a reference to the Friday the 14th Meeting, specifically the Hidden Meetup Coordinates discovered in LOSTMAZE1. The Heroes were able to hack the terminal with the command >hack4075541873990861, which returned the response:
unlocking_terminal connection_established secure_message_sent manipulating_shield awaiting_ship_master...
Again, the page https://ilovebeez.com/caucusrace.html was updated to now read:
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 The Adventures
#hope-bridge
The Heroes then made their way to #hope-bridge and the new >terminal clue was:
Connecting to IO mainframe... Terminal 100 accessed...
This clue was a reference to Terminal 100. When the Heroes originally hacked Terminal 100, the received the message Two hacks out of six powered. Now !hack on Heroes!. So there were still 4 hacks not powered. In order to escape the current room, the Heroes needed to find all 4 of those hacks for this terminal. This was determined after the first hack was found and the response was:
connection_established ALERT: All six hacks built! terminal_requires_four_hacks awaiting_ship_master...
The 4 hacks were solved using both the previous hack from #hope-hallway and the multiplication methods for the previous 2 hacks from Terminal 100. The 4 new hacks were:
>hack256759138061424243 (4075541873990861*9*7) >hack49813029794849141216076571 (4075541873990861*111001*110111) >hack4038857921583069260139 (4075541873990861*9*110111) >hack3166724564884016933027 (4075541873990861*111001*7)
The updated https://ilovebeez.com/caucusrace.html page now read:
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 The Adventures Lost
#hope-hall-of-maps
Moving on to #hope-hall-of-maps, the Heroes were given the >terminal clue:
Connecting to IO mainframe... Rerouting to remote shields mainframe.. Fungus Origin Terminal accessed...
which was later changed to:
Connecting to IO mainframe... Rerouting to off-world remote shields mainframe.. Fungus Cradle Terminal accessed...
FURY later found a way to intercept more transmissions between Doc and his Replicatz. One such transmission had a few interesting hints for the next hack.
Doc: Come in Billy ol' pal. Report! We need this planet's votes. Millions! Oh. How's my soup? I left 30 gallons in the freezer after punishing all the rebellious turtles... Bill the Lizard: Just as you said, we set up a Vault sequence. The bait worked. And after we ravaged their fungus fields and set fire to their cities, the plumbers and their allies had no choice but to leave. Every day is a turtle hunt for fun. Addiction is growing. Our samples are adding up to meaningful votes. 30 million and counting. The shield though...
These clues were a reference to 2 things:
- One origin of fungus and plumbers in the world of video games is the Mushroom Kingdom.
- Fungus Pulmenti Turtur was the recipe in DocLetter 001. It is Latin for Turtle Mushroom Soup.
The Heroes determined that the new command was >hackboletusregnum, which is Latin for Mushroom Kingdom. The terminal response was:
Boletus_Regnum_planet_shield_offline! cascade_triggered... outer_planet_shields_offline! awaiting_ship_master...
#hope-teleporter
The channel changed to #hope-teleporter and the new >terminal clue was:
Connecting to IO mainframe... Rerouting to shields mainframe.. Roman 13 Terminal accessed...
This clue was a reference to the Roman Maze, specifically the 13th grouping of decimal number/Roman numeral and binary number from the path. The Heroes were able to hack the terminal with the command >hack1210110, which returned the response:
shield_mainframe_core_offline! cascade_triggered... inner_planet_shields_offline! awaiting_ship_master...
#hope-ready-room
The Heroes then made their way to #hope-ready-room and the new >terminal clue was:
Connecting to IO mainframe... Rerouting to shields mainframe.. Two Path terminal accessed...
