It's been two days and I haven't got any reviews from anyone yet. But at least the hit counter is still up and running, so at least people are reading it. Even ProjectXantos didn't update his story, which involves phone messages Meltzer deleted that weren't even shown on the teaser site. I hope the private message I sent to him could give him some inspiration. Moving back to the story, Meltzer tries to solve the next layer of the puzzle box. At the same time, he has to talk about something that's been bothering him as of late. What is bound to happen?

Chapter Notes

The solution for solving the third layer is from Bioshock Wiki. And I went to Google to find the crustacean the riddle talks about.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bioshock, its sequel, or Something in the Sea.

Entry Thirty-Six: The White Knight

Meltzer's log dated September 19th 1968.

Solving the third layer of Lutwidge's puzzle box was a little tough to put together. By typing two letters into the pad it comes up with a letter on the screen. And every time I get it wrong, I get Orrin giving me a riddle that confuses me. I was able to write all of this down on paper just to see what he's trying to say. Here, let me read it all from the top.

'eh hem'

When to Rapture's depths, the seeker doth descends,
through a pane of glass, he'll see my glassy head.
Two eyes watch my fore, like Janus I do spy,
I see both fore and aft, with ideas hyper wide.
The Greeks would say, that I have feet on either side,
I camouflage myself, by showing what's inside.
Like an Englishman, my children I do lug,
In a carriage that I cram, I push them with a shrug.
A barrel is my home, with squirts inside its walls,
my eggs are set like jewels, within its crystal hall.
Now if you learn my name, you'll know how deep to sink,
Seek where Rapture lies, I wait upon its brink.

It's hard when you're dealing with a riddle as complicated as that. But, I know some people that could help me out on this clue. I called Inman the other day about this and upon listening to the riddle, he stated that it was talking about some kind of fish that lives in the North Atlantic Ocean, like some type of crustacean. Curious by that I rented a book from the library called, 'Unusual Crustaceans of the North Atlantic: Volume 2' and looked up any sea creature that is related to the riddle. After much skimming, I found out that the creature that matches the riddle is a Phronima.

Now phronima, from what I gather in the book, is one of the rarest of creatures within the North Atlantic. It resembles that of a shrimp with its head, eyes, jaw, and clawed arms, but its skin is translucent, almost resemble a glassy element. They are wild creatures and to eat plankton. It lives in a shell like home shaped like a barrel and made of dead salps. And since they are the smallest of creatures, they tend to be unnoticed if you have some kind of microscope to see them. Most of which fit the description on Lutwidge's riddle, so I believe this was the answer I was looking for.

The problem was how to solve it if you already know the answer? The ciphers are in random spots with some the same as others. Even if I was able to get the right words I still had to worry about the screen next to it. Then I remember something I read in Cindy's codebook. Sometimes the alphabets are in numeric order from A to Z. For example, the letter A is equal to zero, and B is equal to 1, C is three, D is four, and so on and so on. When it all goes down to it, it's all about mathematics meaning that I have to add the right numbers, or letters to be more precise. I started out by adding K, or ten, and F, or five, and I get P, or fifteen. Then added E, or 4, and D, or three, to get H, or seven. After getting the right calculations, I was able to unlock the third layer, only activating the fourth part of the puzzle box.

But first, Lutwidge gave me another message. Though was accurate then the others, he did say something about embarking on the White Knight's journey and I had to answer the White Knight's question. Hmm… Sounds like another part of the forth layer I need to solve. Once the 4x4 grid vanished, there is now a 5x5 grid only this time showing all the cipher letters of the alphabet with the exception of both X and Y in one square. When I push one of the squares, it glowed green and faded in a matter of seconds. This is much more complex then I thought. This will take a while…

……………………..hmm…

One other thing… I've been getting contact from some unknown individual, preferably male by the sound of the voice in the message machine. He goes by the name of Jadeite, and he seems to have connections to Lutwidge A.K.A. Quain. He's been sending me letters and calling me constantly, telling me to stop my search for my daughter. He didn't give me much details as to why, but he stated that if I enter the abyss, I would never go back. I don't know what he's trying to do, but I can't give up on the search, not yet at least. Still, I think Jadeite has some vital information about Orrin. Might want to look into him.

End Entry…

And yes, all of this is true according to Bioshock Wiki. Too bad you can't go through with the puzzle boxes, since they take too DAMN LONG with the loading! But at least I gave you the information needed. On the next chapter, Meltzer decided to locate Lutwidge's hideout to find the answer for the forth puzzle. How will he do that? You have to wait and see for yourself. Please Review.