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mortality
Unfettered


Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 428

 		Punctuated text of picture.
The previous Athens post used a 7 as the first digit. So they're counting down for the Greece posts and counting up on the others.

Quote:
No time to elaborate. I've been out west but am leaving here tomorrow. I think I need to get out of here fast. The face I mentioned previously is not in our hands. I think some very smart people across the sea built it and still control it. I do not think they are official. If they are not official I have to assume their motivation is profit or mayhem. My guess is the former but I don't have evidence of that.

I went there trying to find out more and I think I pissed them off. Too bad because I really love the place. I'm pretty sure they burned me and they are not the sort to value journalistic curiousity.

I believe they are heavy enough to do something about me. I think they put people on me and I think they may have followed me home. I made inquiries about protection and my contact there gave me the name of a specialist. He called him "the poet".

I've been in communication with the [sic] via phone drop but I haven't contracted with him yet. I would like your feedback on that. The poet's name is Mike. I am also hoping you may know him or of him.

I think the face can do everything I said before and probably more. I also think it is truly invisible. Even to our people. That's why I want so badly to know who is running it. If they are sympathetic to our view, it may not be a bad thing to let the face run. But there is a huge potential for abuse. Just don't know. We need to talk. I know you have a site in plainsight. I made one there, too. Try to leave word for me there. You have the name. I will try to contact you via voice as soon as it's safe.

[Handwritten digits]
-2/+5
-3/+4
+2/+7
-1/+1

[dotted letters]
dmteecbptoi


Think the dots are a key. Numbers are a legend. Don't think there's any significance beyond that. Sent it to Germain at the risk of incurring his wrath.

Face=visage=PROMIS software.
Foreign organization could be anyone since the software was stolen and sold on the open market.
Maybe Osprey is an OIS attempt to track it down?

The number we got on the business card is probably a phone drop. If we have someone in Europe who will dial it, that would be helpful, I think.

Here's the poet's number again: 2764-5511-6406-9847. 358 is the country code. Hyvinkaa's city code is 19, if that's where the poet is.

PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 8:57 pm
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n2vols13
Boot


Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 62
Location: Florida

 		 I'm Back
ok guys I've been out for a while trying to catch up... and i am having a problem with the whole pass word thing...can anyone help me out please.... Sorry i'm a little slow at times..
Everyone has been doing such a great job.....Keep up the good work!!! Razz


EDIT: you can email me at n2vols13splatmsn.com

PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:43 pm
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zizka
Decorated


Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 157
Location: Basement of the Alamo

 		so the dotted letters are DMTEECBPTOI. They appear on four lines in 3 groups of 3 and one group of 2: DMT, EEC, BPT, OI.

I believe these groups correpsond to the numbers:

-2/+5 DMT
-3/+4 EEC
+2/+7 BPT
-1/+1 OI

It may be a cipher key of some sort. I'm not as knowledgable about these things as I'd like to be, but it may fit into the contet of hte message. It's not ROTable. In any event. . . tic toc:

Quote:
Just got back in. This is interesting. I should have time tomorrow to
compare and see if I come up with the same message. It's odd how
alien cleartext can look with no spaces. From a quick read I think
the most important thing is that he says I have the name of his site.
I DO NOT; which means he must have provided it somehow, either in this
letter or the first one.

The more pressing issue right now is the next step in ghosttown.
Based on your feedback I believe you are seeing all traffic on FOF, so
we must decide how to proceed. T outlines the two most likely
scenarios. T has Amobarbital onsite, so a successful snatch would
likely prove fruitful, but I am concerned about action of that
complexity with only one person there. Also, whoever CT1 is working
for would know for certain that parties with some means were
interested in their activities. Theft of the laptop or even a
robbery would still alert them, but they would end up knowing much
less about us [we tend to share your intent to let our enemies
underestimate us], the balance is that we will almost certainly know
much less about them.

I am hoping to be able to give you until 13:00pdt tomorror (072207) to
send your feedback regarding next steps. If the situation breaks
before then we will act on best available data.


Things are moving forward and soon; It would be best if our input were involved.
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:55 am
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mortality
Unfettered


Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 428

 		Orders
First thing: do we have means for other people to engage in secure communication with Germain yet?

Second thing: I see two things to consider when deciding what action Tristan should take.

1)What information will we get?
2)What is the likelihood of success?

Laptop
1)We'll probably find out what they know about AP's activities and/or us. Possibly get some communications between agent and handler. We probably won't find out what the whole project is about or the agent's identity.
2)High probability of success. Might have to do decryption work without a key.

Kidnapping/Interrogation
1)We'll get all the positives from 1 above. We'll also learn about the project as a whole. We'll probably get an answer about the agent's identity. And we'll find out what organization he thinks he works for. If there's anything to decrypt, we might be able to get the key from the target.
2)Moderate to high probability of failure. We end up with nothing. Possibility of losing Tristan. Possibility of Tristan divulging whatever he knows. Could put TY, an innocent, at risk. Regardless of outcome: it makes the other side more fully knowledgable of our capabilities and the means we are willing to use.

I'm leaning slightly towards theft. If we had another agent out there I'd be all for the risk. I think we play this round close to our vest, but I have no strenuous objections to taking a risk here.

PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:21 am
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surfzoned
Decorated


Joined: 30 Jun 2007
Posts: 237
Location: City of Denial, Nation of Sheeple

 		numbers and dots
If there is something to the numbers and dots, which i believe there is, I don't know what it is they have to do with each other exactly.
I think they might both refer to different things.. I've tried a dozen ways of using them in conjunction with the text and nothings working out. tried different plotting methods too..
I could be wrong..
I've tried a plethora of substitutions between the last cypher, Umberto Eco, autoreromanzo, the #'s, the dotted letters. I'm seeing things that aren't there now.
Somewhere theres a clue we've overlooked.. I think. (Anyone got any braincells they're willing to loan me? hehe)

It's never wise to nab someone solo. Agents work in teams for a reason. Even a snatch&bail can be tricky solo. (You don't bring a lookout for the conversation!)


PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 5:36 am
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surfzoned
Decorated


Joined: 30 Jun 2007
Posts: 237
Location: City of Denial, Nation of Sheeple

 		T's plan of attack.
Germain has been informed of our current opinion in the matter of the field agent.
Safety first, etc. One casualty is too many casualties.

PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:30 am
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zizka
Decorated


Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 157
Location: Basement of the Alamo

 		i'll be damned if I can figure this out, which annoys me greatly. On general principal, I don't like not to be able to hash these things out. On a practical level, there is a pile of information on AP's site, and I'm fairly sure this code is the key to it.

Surf: I'm glad you ran the autoreromanzo angle, as that thoguht crossed my mind after loging but before sleep last night. I'm happy no to have spenmt another 45 minutes banging away in futility Razz

If no one has worked it out before tomorrow, I'll seek help in #unfiction. Those folks are incredibly clever, far more so than I, at least.
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 11:20 am
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mortality
Unfettered


Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 428

 		I thought maybe the dotted letters could be rearranged to name the website. It's probably a blog at WordPress. I couldn't find any obvious candidates among the anagram solutions. When I get a chunk of time I'll plug away at the anagrams while you work the cipher angle.

I also left a private message for Thorn on LibraryThing to see if we could rekindle that contact. That's getting frustrating.

This has me thinking about loose ends. What other information do we have that has yet to be connected?

Off the top of my head:
Autoreromanzo - 2.5
Raju Runoilija 2764-5511-6406-9847 a/k/a The Poet/Mike
Petal/Thorn's manuscript...renewed contact with P/T.
Thalberg/Saarinen
Hyvinkaa and Helsinki, Finland
Washington (Was it D.C. or state?)

PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 11:58 am
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zizka
Decorated


Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 157
Location: Basement of the Alamo

 		it was DC. there's also the medicine hat, AB region, which is 30 miles from a military base that figures large in conspiracy circles. I'm fairly sure that "across the ocean" is going to be finland.

Fortunately, we have many separate leads to follow, but this letter business seems pretty important.
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:53 pm
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Abraxas
Unfettered

Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 736
Location: Cologne, Germany

 		catching up
Hey, I've been away from the game for a couple days.

A few things:

1. Did you give advice to Germaine on how to handle CT1? I just wanted to say I would have gone for snatching the notebook, too, I think. Germaine mentions that T. has barbiturates, but anyway, he and T. himself also say that it is risky. And I'm not sure we are supposed to go all-out this early in the mission or whatever we're doing.
This obviously has the downside that they know somebody is on to them. Plus, take actions to retrieve it before we get anything out of it.

I thought about the other possibility, which is to take CT1 and interrogate him. [I checked in briefly this morning.] My idea was to shoot him with a tranquilizer gun. Laughing Less close-contact than barbiturates. But it's still risky. If you don't kill CT1 afterwards, that is. You certainly can't risk letting him go, I guess. CT1 is not that small a fish, most likely.

This is definitely Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-like. Confused

2. I lost track of these postings a little bit...where do those apletters come from? I mean, who sends them? The latest only tells me "same remailer as the last one", but who is that?

3. One small thing I did, I checked out the location of Hampton and Holiday Inn within Casper. I found the two of them on one street - T. says they are close to each other - but West F Street and not E Street as he claims. But I also got a site that stated them to be on E F Street...I really don't know.
Here are the two I got:
Hampton Inn
Holiday Inn

PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 6:12 pm
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mortality
Unfettered


Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 428

 		Odd new post at LT
From a new character; newly registered at LT
Quote:
Message 5:

mister.samgrass Show Affinity
Hey, fabulous idea for a group. Nothing goes together like club-going lads about town and unthinkable horrors from beyond time and space. Good show.

Since you folks discuss interesting manuscripts, I was hoping someone on this group could help me with this. I found this handwritten poem in an old botany textbook. It is obviously a bad poem, but it has something of a Lovecraftian surrealness to it; so I though I'd see if any of you wanted to chat about it. It looks like it had two or three previous titles, but those were all crossed out.

Untitled

They hunt me yet, these hounds of hell.
Bean Sidhe wail across the moor.
Onyx tooth and bloody claw.
I flee from what I was before.

Beetle wings of jet and lace.
Twittering and clacking teeth.
Burning eyes in eyeless face.
Ceaseless, that which lies beneath.

Janus knows him, called him friend.
The nameless one, now far from home.
Rex on Albion's great river.
The word inscribed upon the tome.

Like I said; not a good poem, but a couple striking images.

The paper it is written on is being overtaken by a moss-coloured mould. I feel it is important that I keep the clean portions of the manuscript very clean. So any thoughts on that would be appreciated as well.

Please contact me if you have any insight into this poem. It's been a long time since I've spoken to anyone about this stuff, and it would be great to meet up with some like-minded bibliophiles. Ta.

Emphasis mine.
mould=Green?

Beetle wings of jet and lace...Ospreys are white and black.

Albion is an old name for Great Britain. Its great river is the Thames. King on the river is London?

Janus hasn't been referenced in here before. Two-faced could be a reference to Perfidy1942. But it's also the god of transitions and a gatekeeper.

Samgrass was in Brideshead, no?

So is this Petal taking a new name?

PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:21 pm
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surfzoned
Decorated


Joined: 30 Jun 2007
Posts: 237
Location: City of Denial, Nation of Sheeple

 		new post at LT
I posted on LT
Quote:
Very eloquent passage you have there.
I know a really good Mender Of Books at Yahoo. I'm sure I can send a message to him If you'd like.
He seems very good at mending old documents.


MenderofbooksSPLATyahoo.com is my email address..
I'll post any mail I get to here.

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:33 am
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surfzoned
Decorated


Joined: 30 Jun 2007
Posts: 237
Location: City of Denial, Nation of Sheeple

 		New on HIAS
Quote:
Rumor of Resignation From Chiba
Friday, July 20, 2007


Chiba Prefecture, Japan - 20 July, 2007

Correspondent Toshiro Tanaka writes to us of a rumor of an imminent resignation of yet another member of the government of Chiba Prefecture. Although he said he was not at liberty to name names at this time, Tanaka stated that the rumor identifies a senior member of the Chiba Prefecture Police as the person likely to step down in coming days.

This speculation comes in the wake of two other high-profile resignations over the past two months; those of Director of Special Investigations, Mifune Shimizu, and Senior Staff Adviser, Akira Koichi.

Tanaka writes, "Most people on the street feel that these men are involved in some sort of corruption. They cannot understand why there is so little media coverage of these resignations. The excuse of 'I would like to spend more time with my family' is starting to sound very hollow. Many people feel that these men are under pressure to resign, probably at the hand of a criminal organization."


Could be referring to the Face program?

[edit - we like to save the use of the spoiler tag for just puzzle solves Wink - also if you are posting twice in a row, you can always just edit your very recent post and add the new information. - kona]

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:36 am
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zizka
Decorated


Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 157
Location: Basement of the Alamo

 		Looks like petal's telling us he's moving on and where he's moving to:

Quote:
Rex on Albion's great river.
The word inscribed upon the tome.


seems to be the puzzle.

Brax: I think a remailer is some person or service who recevies and re-sends the mail. Not sure about whether it would be a person or automated. It's somewhere in Maryland, which may be important at some point.

I noticed somethign about the last AP letter: The dotted letters are at the beginning or end of words, except for the last two, whci are both the second letter. (L = Last, F = First, S = Second)

DMT - LFL
EEC - LLF
BPT - FFL
OI - SS

I omitted the odd-man out from eac row, and applied the numbers to the remaining 2 and got this: NOHLEOYT. I get Honey Lot, The Loony, Holy Tone, THE ONLY O, Holy Note, ONE HOTLY, LEON HOYT, TONY HOLE. . .
possible more. These seemed like th eonly that were likely. Of course I probably missed some, and there's nothing to say these letters are correct.

Also, was digging on the FoF site and reading some old posts. Saw a PW protected one I hadn't noticed and tried some guesses. Found this (Spoilered in case you want to guess at the PW):
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
123 Queen Street W.,
Room #1544
Toronto, ON M5H 2M9, Canada
5 March, 14:15
Confirm: West World (4)


dig dig dig. Found another:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
The footage is in airport locker #27736, Stavanger Airport, Sømmevegen 1, 4050 Sola, Norway

It must be picked up no later than EOD 2 Dec.

Tristan will take delivery at drop 3 in Oakland.

Confirm: Room With A View (2)

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:08 pm
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mortality
Unfettered


Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 428

 		Nice.
New info from the old posts: The address is a Sheraton Centre Hotel.

Cracking the cipher: No wordpress sites for the anagrams you posted and nothing turned up for the words I tried with the original letter combinations. I'm thinking it was just a key-in-progress that AP never applied.

Cracking the poem: There's a place called Kingston-Upon-Thames in Southwest London. Albion=UK. Rex=king. Great river=Thames.

Word insribed upon tome...wordpress?

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:33 pm
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