unforum

[barbarossa]

[gott_sei_dank]

Don't go chasing rabbits, keep it simple


> Tell me about Nebo.

[snorkle256]

So we've gotten through the gate, but somewhere still there is a datastore code we missed.

Is it the smarq researcher date from alice? xxxx ?

So clicking the screen again gives

[Gently]

Uh oh. Is it still broken?

WARNING - GATE STILL LOCKED
Launch Process Error
Imminent system wide failure: 32508

Maybe we need to discover the redacted classified commands? What else can we do?

[aseameba]

Ishtar gate is already supposed to be active.

When it was time for the third gate to go online, and we still had not gotten through the Nebo gate, we got this "System wide fail imminent" -countdown.

Now we have figured out all the clues about Nebo, and that's all we did with Nanna gate, and it was enough. Now it seems we need to do something else to get the Ishtar gate going.

First there were things that were "ONLINE", a couple were "OFFLINE" and the gates were "PENDING". Now the first two gates are "ONLINE", the next five are in "ERROR" and the first items are "REBOOTING". How do we reset the system?

Can we figure out what the classified commands are? If the command list was real paper, we could examine it against light to try to see the writing behind the black strikeout... can we do something similar with a digital picture of the list?

[aseameba]

Countdown is still running... We have about 2 whole days and 6 hours before the system fails.

In that time, I think we should at least get the Ishtar gate active to avoid system failure. Maybe even solve the Ishtar gate, IDK.

[aseameba]

looking at the classified commands, I'm quite sure all three of them start with the word "qadhos". You can see the q in the first two, and part of the a in the first one. Above the black smear there are two tall stave-like parts of letters visible on each of the three commands. The first high stave is crooked to the right, making it the top part of a "d". The following stave is straight, but very close to the first, so it would have to be on the left edge of the letter, like in "h". It could also be a "k" or an "l", but if it starts with "qad", why would it be anything else than "qadhos", considering what this whole thing is about?

Does anyone know the font used? It's the same one used in the quote on top of Unforum.. the "this week sponsored by" -thing.

[Gently]

I agree, aseameba. I think it's safe to assume the classified commands all start "qadhos." Haven't been able to find the font, though.

Looking at the tiny parts of letters that you can see over the redacted parts and some highly scientific mucking around in photoshop later here's some guesses as to approximate number of characters and likely suspects for letters:

1: quadhosXXXXXXX(l or h)XX(l or h)

2: qadhosXXgXXXiXX

3: qadhosXXXXXXXX

That's assuming there's no spaces in the commands.

Also, 'cause I was out of ideas, I emailed HMSTriumph (Adam) again to see if he could help, but haven't heard back.

Edit: Heard back.

Me:

Adam,

It looks like we're facing qadhos system wide failure because we didn't crack the Nebo gate in time. I don't know if you'll actually respond to this, but you said you have a copy of the project's codes, and you seem to be willing to help us. Could one of those codes keep the system from failing under these circumstances?

Adam:

Hi Agent Gently,

In exchange of the project's code my passage was secure; all is well for me now. I wish the same for you and your loved ones.

You should try to reach Agent Mata Hari. She may be of some help.

Stay strong,
- Adam


I missed the previous email that mentioned Agent Mata Hari. Shot off a couple of emails to gmail addresses that might work, but nothing so far. Any ideas how we reach her?

[gott_sei_dank]

Hm confusing, I thought it was odd that the emergency email mentioned Mata but we ended up communicating with Adam, maybe we find Mata Hari on social media.

[aseameba]

[aseameba]

[aseameba]

It worked.. well, sort of.

I have contacted Mata Hari, but I'm not absolutely sure, if the address is really related to this ARG. It could be just a coincidence. Anyway, here is the message I recieved: (it's an automated away message, very ARG style, but does not give any hints about our situation NOW, and has an estimated return date quite far away in the future...)

[barbarossa]

I just got this:



Tracy Champion Nov 8 (1 day ago)
having trouble getting in gate. Got any codes handy?

M Adam
12:06 AM (8 hours ago)

to me
Agent Champion,

You should try to reach Agent Mata Hari. She may be of some help.

Stay strong,
- Adam

[Gently]

The communication relay is all red today. Not sure, but thinking that means we need to hurry up!

So. . . does what we're looking for have something to do with the end of the world? Le Fin Du Monde?

Currently just typing quadhos(insert all kinds of nonsense here) into the communication relay to see what happens. Not sure what else to do.

[snorkle256]

It is all red, but the stati say that qadhos is rebooting which should be a good thing. My guess is that when the timer runs out we will resume the game...

Somebody could check back through one of the last few games, this is not the first time we missed an unlock and had to be prodded along...