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MacHeist 3:Mission 1
From WikiHeist, the unofficial MacHeist wiki
This page contains SPOILER!!! Mission 1:
As in all missions, make sure you are using Safari as your web browser. To begin, watch the first briefing and download the 3 files you were provided by right-clicking the links and selecting "Download Linked File...".
Looking at each file tells you nothing as they are encrypted and unable to be decoded.
The files have the extension .SC, and cannot be opened or manipulated by any easily accessible program. http://filext.com/file-extension/SC
To proceed, you must watch the next briefing: a clue from the source regarding the first file.
For the first file, the clue was the ASCII message included in the briefing. The name Authur Aski was used to push us in the right direction. It seems the characters are being used to make an image. The thing with ASCII art is that the size of the canvas determines how it is displayed; in this case the canvas is way too narrow.
To understand the clue, you must copy and paste the text into a text editor with an adjustable canvas, e.g., TextEdit. Once copied, make sure you are using a fixed width font and either resize the viewer window or shrink the text until it appears as the following:
http://img.skitch.com/20090222-c3pxmqh583j4xpxepwhy73mmua.jpg
FILE 1
The text turns into ASCII art, which depicts four images in text: a smoke stack, a bumblebee, the Roman numeral 'IV', and a flame. Translating the pictures into words, you get the phrase "smoke before fire".
To proceed, use the answer as a URL: http://smokebeforefire.com/
On this website, there is a graphic of a blackjack table with several cards: the only suits present are Hearts and Clubs. No part of the image responds when clicked. The text "J is worth K K is worth M A is worth A, of course" is written on the tabletop, indicating that the cards form a modified Solitaire Cipher. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solitaire_(cipher).
By initially replacing each card with its numerical equivalent, (e.g., A = 1 = 1, Q = 12 = L), and subsequently adding a value of 13 to the hearts, each card has a numerical value 1-26 corresponding to a letter of the English alphabet.
9=i 1=n
7=t 8=h 5=e
12=y 5=e 1=a 5=r
2=o 6=f
7=t 8=h 5=e
5=r 1=a 7=t
This spells out "In The Year Of The Rat." By the Chinese calendar, the year 1996 was represented by the rat. Using the same technique that led you to this site, enter the letters as a URL: http://www.intheyearoftherat.com
Here we find two links: one to a file and one to a viewer.
Projections.sc Viewer 18-Jul-1996 04:29
The graph shows several errors in red; the date is wrong. One option to fix the date is to change your computer's time to July 18, 1996. WARNING: Changing your clock (and then switching back to the current time) may adversely affect other applications, specifically Time Machine, and may trigger iCal alarms. Use the second option below, instead.
You can find the answer by browsing to http://intheyearoftherat.com/viewer/liveupdate.php?date=, which displays the database for the graph. By going to the address bar and putting in the date given by the mainframe (7181996 - for July 18, 1996) at the end, the errors disappear and text appears at the bottom.
The letters at the bottom spell out "stackthedeck," which you can use as a NExT passcode.
http://nextinternal.com/stackthedeck
When you get to the website, you will see the file listing. Clicking on the file's link lets us read it but it's unreadable. If you look in the upper left corner in the blue bar, you will see an option to upload and replace the file. Click the button, then select the appropriate file from wherever you downloaded them to on your computer. Hit 'OK' and then wait for the button text to change to 'FILE REPLACED'.
FILE 2
Below the video is a bunch of nonsensical text with a pattern to it
eɪtʃ tʰiː tʰiː pʰiː ˈkoʊlən slæʃ slæʃ ˈdʌbəljuː ˈdʌbəljuː ˈdʌbəljuː dɒt tu ˈdʌbəljuː əʊ ɑr diː ɛs wʌn ɛs əʊ juː ɛn diː dɒt siː əʊ ɛm
Upon further examination, words appear hidden in the text.
ˈkoʊlən
This 'foreign language' is actually written in the phonetic alphabet and represents an English sentence.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c … t_2005.png
Because the phonetic alphabet represents the way words sound, it is easiest to pronounce these combinations out loud and translate into English.
eɪtʃ - h tʰiː - t tʰiː - t pʰiː - p
ˈkoʊlən : slæʃ / slæʃ / ˈdʌbəljuː w ˈdʌbəljuː w ˈdʌbəljuː w dɒt . tu 2 ˈdʌbəljuː w əʊ o ɑr r diː d ɛs s wʌn 1 ɛs s əʊ o juː u ɛn n diː d dɒt . siː c əʊ o ɛm m
Using the code as a URL, go to http://www.2words1sound.com/.
On this site, an opened book full of spelling errors rests on a podium:
For sum, the thrill of the chase is all that matters. No matter how you frays it, whether in a positive or negative light, it’s all about the excitement. Even when the weights bear down on your chest, like the force of the heavens, it mite be your last chance for glory. Bee that as it may, the whole is often grater than the sum of its parts, so having strong opinions and being herd in these times of yearning is all that you can pursue…Your hands are tied.
This poorly spelled poem employs homonyms, true to the domain name of "two words one sound."
To manipulate the text, put it into a text editor and notice the interesting changes when it is copied.
For sum, the thrill of the chase is all that matters. No matter how you frays it, whether in a positive or negative light, it’s all about the excitement. Even when the weights bear down on your chest, like the force of the heavens, it mite be your last chance for glory. Bee that as it may, the whole is often grater than the sum of its parts, so having strong opinions and being herd in these times of yearning is all that you can pursue…Your hands are free when you enter the code tongue-tied
The end of the text has changed. The last line now reads "Your hands are free when you enter the code tongue-tied"
Using the hidden text as passcode for NExT Internal, go to http://nextinternal.com/tonguetied/
When you get to the website, you will see the file listing. again clicking on the file's link lets us read it but its illegible. If you look in the upper left corner in the blue bar, you will see an option to upload and replace the file. click the button then select the appropriate file from whereever you downloaded them to on your computer. Click "OK" and then wait for the button text to change to FILE REPLACED.
FILE 3
The next video is now available. Sophia continues her mysterious exploits and informs you of the new developments :
The source sent us another package, attached was a note with just these numbers written on it:
58,137 71,56 6,11 28,90 101,44 22,70
Before you can use these numbers, click on the attached "Device," which leads to http://holding.macheist.com/device/
So it seems like the numbers are going to be the answer to this device.
If you toggle the numbers up and down using the +/- keys on the to and bottom of each number, it empties and fills the pie charts on each side.
If you start from the left, you will know that you are just right if one of the five circles decreases and the other remains the same for one single digit. If one decreases and the other increases, then you need to continue going up or down for that digit until one decreases and the other remains the same. If you keep playing with the numbers, you will find that you hit upon a mysterious number:
1603035184
When we punch this into the device it flashes, but then what? What does this number mean? A Google search reveals that this is the ISBN of the book "The Time Machine". Time Machines seem to be a common thread so it looks like we are on the right path, but how do these clues fit together? What can we make of the earlier code we recieved?
If we use the code as a page/word guide for the book (viewable through Google), we end up with
Page 58, word 137 is: "be" Page 71, word 56 is: "not" Page 6, word 56 is: "the" Page 28, word 90 is: "servants" Page 101, word 44 is: "of" Page 22, word 70 is: "words"
When we plug that in as a URL:
http://www.benottheservantsofwords.com/
We find a Rosetta Stone of sorts. It looks like it's translating time.
ljuga = Lie (Icelandic)
lögn = wiring, cables (Icelandic)
inriktat = aimed (swedish)
uppdratt = blueprint (danish)
meninsløs = Meaningless (danish)
This doesn't really make sense. The more we try to decode the less sense it makes. Alas, if you take a step back and take another look, things will begin to become clearer as things align. Quite literally in fact...
Take a look at the words that align. Hmm, that's odd... they seem to be spelling something out.
Where the words on the stone align, they spell the word chronology vertically. Use this word as the third NExT passcode.
http://nextinternal.com/chronology/
When you get to the website, you will see the file listing. Clicking on the file's link lets us read it but it's unreadable. if you look in the upper left corner in the blue bar, you will see an option to upload and replace the file. Click the button then select the appropriate file from wherever you downloaded them on your computer. Hit O.K. and then wait for the button text to change to FILE REPLACED.
FINAL CLUE
After watching the Debriefing, you get the clue that the answer lies in the mountains. The one thing to notice was the deliberateness of how the mysterious person folded the paper, almost as if they wanted us to do the same thing. If we do follow those directions, what do we do next?
Well there is more then one mountain. and folding the paper in 4 gives us 4 sets of mountains. What lies in between them? Well, there's nothing. We cut that piece out, so if we unfold the paper we end up with an x missing in the middle of the sheet. What if the X itself is the key?
Go back to the Mainpage of MacHeist and click on the vault keypad. When you click on it, the pad will fall away; leaving you with a gesture pad. What do we do now? Well, if you hold that paper with the X in it up to the gesture pad, you find it fits almost perfectly. Hold down your mouse, and trace the X exactly. If you get it right, it should look like the picture below.
A Quicktime movie shows the vault opening, then you are redirected to your loot page. Congratulations! Mission 1 is complete.
