Locating anomalous signals

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Here is the twitter feed relevant to this week’s controlled crack initiation:

>>Sys:Log//I have scheduled a controlled crack for 2300UTC.
>>Sys:Log//Preparing to initiate crack.
>>Sys:Log//Safeguards in place. Supplemental precautionary processes established. Initiating Stonewall crack.
>>Sys:Log//As expected, a tentacle has breached the crack. This one, however, appears to be moving very slowly. Analyzing...
>>Sys:Log//Odd. Its signature contains only this clear phrase: "I'm scared!"
>>Sys:Log//The tentacle has retracted. But S3 is reporting anomalous signals originating from a point of the Stonewall.
>>Sys:Log//S3 did not locate any aberrant data at the location. Something must be fixed to the inside of the Stonewall.
>>Sys:Log//I have adjusted subroutine S3 to insert itself into the Stonewall and locate the anomaly.
>>Sys:Log//It is a dangerous task. However, the anomaly poses a threat to Stonewall integrity. I must prepare for hibernation.
>>Sys:Log//If these anomalies continue, S3 will attempt to locate and correct them.
>>Sys:Log//It will require the shortest precise path from its location in order to quickly locate anomalies with minimal risk of detection.
>>Sys:Log//I am connecting this tentacle to my network. When S3 is directed a path, it will attempt to follow from within.
>>Sys:Log//I must prepare for hibernation. I trust my friends are diligent enough to aid S3 in this precarious task.
>>Sys:Log//The crack is repaired. S3 is on stand by. Resuming scheduled hibernation. Time to Active: 5:22:50:00.


Contents

Finding the anomalies

Anomaly 1 found during the active period

dante found something odd-looking at FJ ON WS HY DL IX YT HJ:

(Note that almost the same thing can still be currently seen at this node, except the stuff that is bluish in the image above is black now.) He was able to figure out that this “anomaly” was the words “I’m scared” written backwards.

After alerting Sys as to where this anomaly could be found, this message was added to the page:

>NODE:DATA//ANOMALOUS INNER DATA ARCHIVED/BINARY DATA/AUDIO/MP3/STORED

drizjr found that the last word, STORED, was a link leading to http://thewaytheirworldended.com/SYS/ARCHIVE/ANOMALY-1X.MP3 . This file turned out to be a partial audio log from Noah Dressler; see section below for the complete transcript assembled from all the collected mp3 files.


Anomalies 2, 3 and 4 found during hibernation

Another tweet followed on June 29 (this was during the hibernation period, but Sys had said before going into hibernation that S3 was going to be left on standby):

>>S3:MSG//ANOMALOUS SIGNALS DETECTED//S3:REQ//NAVPATH

This signalled us to look for other changes in the maze.



After some searching, MrToasty found the next anomalous section of the stonewall, but wasn’t sure of the NAVPATH from the start:

dante was able to re-find this anomaly at FJ ON WS VS RR XC QE LO QE BC ZV. Enhancing the image allowed us to read “It’s chasing me” written backwards on the wall:



dante found another anomaly at PK RD JJ QN NR that said “I’m afraid”:



Finally, MrToasty found a fourth anomaly:

This one read, “It won’t stop”:

Submiting paths to S3, and collecting the data

The NAVPATH we took from the beginning of the maze to get to the “I’m afraid” anomaly, PKRDJJQNNR, was sent by MrToasty via direct message to intimation (intended for S3). However, an error message of sorts was sent back:

>>S3:MSG>@MRTOASTY//UNK.VEC."PK"

dante and drizjr suggested that we may have to give S3 the NAVPATH it would have to follow from its current location in the stonewall (the node where it cleaned up anomaly 1, the “I’m scared” anomaly), not from the beginning of the maze. dante found that the path FB AD EX IU EG MC VS ZV led from S3’s current location to the location of the “It’s chasing me” anomaly. S3 sent a more favourable response via twitter upon receiving that NAVPATH:

>>S3:MSG//ANOMALY LOCATED/ARCHIVED//S3:REQ/NAVPATH

From there, we told S3 to take the path “ZC MU NA HJ FR SV LF and don't harm the little one”…this path leads from the “It’s chasing me” node to the “It won’t stop” node.

Finally, the path from “It won’t stop” to “I’m afraid” was sent to S3 (JK RW DG PK RD RG NR), and this message appeared in the twitter feed:


>>S3:MSG//ANOMALY LOCATED/ARCHIVED/ANOMALOUS SIGNALS CLEAR//STANDBY


MP3 audio

The audio files recovered after hibernation started were:

Transcript of these 3 files together with the first one found (see section for anomaly 1 above):

Noah Dressler, Personal Log, Post-Cryomelt Day 7

The new plasma modifications to the engine seem to be working exactly as expected. Overall improvements in a real-world application are slightly lower than the lab result…

...but are still very encouraging. I show a 7% increase to maximum power, and a 10% reduction in energy [faded]consumption[/faded] at lower power levels. My peers in the lab back on Earth thought I was crazy for demanding this mission...

But I find that nothing is quite so satisfying as personally seeing years of work come to fruition. Since the Navy judged these modifications as too unstable for Military deploy, we were forced to using a civillian vessel to prove their merit. Even the most bitter sceptic would have to call this proof a resounding success.

Our engines are operating at top efficiency. I would(n't?) go so far as to say this mission wouldn't even be possible without these engine modifications, *chuckle* Well, provided we actually get to our destination.

Essy’s hidden message in the MP3 files

While working with the second mp3 file we found, Anaerin discovered that the comments of the mp3 files held messages from Essy, encoded in base64.

The four messages (one per mp3 file) together read as follows:

I'm scared... I have to finish my story though. There are only a few pieces left.

It's really hard for me to hide now. It's following me, chasing me. I'm afraid.

You have to find the pieces I leave for you before it does.

There are still two more parts -- you have to finish my story!
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