The professor was alone within an abandoned warehouse outside of the rest of Aurich. This warehouse seemed to be controlled by a shady organization that, while their identity or motives are not clearly known, they may be related to or even part of The Family back in London! This possibility comes from the similarities of their weapons, their clothing, and their fluency in English that The Family had.
Since the last chapter, the professor (with the extremely necessary help of the other spirit) had begun attempting to discover any information that would link the hauntings of Aurich with the charred bodies that two suspicious-looking men confiscated earlier before bringing them to this warehouse.
"Now, let me see... How did I do this again..? Oh, that's right! I better start by... Hm?"
There were words on the computer monitor that read the following message:
WELCOME TO BELEUCH ORGANIS (TM) COMLINK
SET COMPUTER/INQUIRE
MODEL 18XD
SET FILE/PROTECTION-OWNER:VERRAT
SENDING HALT RESPONSE
"Oh... I should've seen this coming."
ENTER PASSWORD NOW
0xF68C KSJORGANIZAT
0xF698 IONVTEBFEZUE
0xF6A4 HYJDSWRECUPE
0xF6B0 RATINGUWYMPE
0xF6BC EIAMDRRYCREL
0xF6C0 ATIONSHIPLJJ
0xF6D4 DEGGBZMCAPCY
0xF6E0 INZDVZADXBVG
0xF6EC FMPHEADQUART
0xF6F8 ERSKARGFCMXP
0xF704 QBPMUOUUEJRU
0xF710 VBLWSNJMQQF
0xF71C IHSMMEWLINFI
0xF728 LTRATIONQMTX
0xF734 WSMANEYMCONS
0xF740 PIRATORSQRZJ
0xF74C ORUIIDSMCIVI
0xF758 LIZATIONULCP
0xF764 NIMRVXBBHMCQ
0xF770 UARTERSTAFFQ
0xF77C IFDINDEFINIT
0xF788 ELYWEDDRDCIJ
0xF794 GNLINZKDMBGW
0xF7A0 AGYBIXRILIPI
0xF7AC CNDFXLNHCNBP
0xF7B8 DNWIWHSZPZQD
0xF7C4 KADSOIWAKEHK
0xF7D0 XVDLJWPODKPO
0xF7DC JDLSAJJMEKAW
0xF7E8 ANTICIPATING
0xF7F4 CYUBROADCAST
0xF800 INGYICONSTRU
0xF80C CTIONWUKPURI
0xF818 FICATIONHXSX
The professor himself could see the screen, "What is all of this?"
"Garbled code... To put it in layman's, or perhaps, Layton's terms, I need to crack this code."
"Layton's terms? How humorous."
"Clever pun aside, I see nine, ten, eleven, twelve... Twelve digits."
The professor spotted an actual twelve-letter word in the coding, "I believe I figured this puzzle out. I see a word over there that reads 'anticipating'."
"That might work, but I haven't got to the tricky part yet. You see, this may end up a lot like that game we used to play back in college. Do you remember 'Mastermind'?"
"Mastermind..? Hmm... Ah! If I recall, you've always picked the brown peg."
"Yes, those were the days, weren't they..? Anyway, I might start with 'organization' at the top-left corner over there."
"Organization? I see 'organizat', but... Ah, never mind. I'll assume you count the 'ion' in the next row. Correct?"
"Correct. Now, there are a lot of twelve-letter words with 'tion' at the end, so I'll try 'organization'."
ORGANIZATION
Entry denied
4/12 match.
3 ATTEMPT(S) LEFT
The professor could see the amount of attempts remaining, "Three attempts left..?"
"Yes, if a password is entered incorrectly too many times in succession, the computer will lock itself out as a safety measure."
The professor glanced at the '4/12 match.' message, "It seems that four of the letters are correct."
"Yes, they are also in the correct positions. The tricky part is discerning which letters are the correct ones."
(!)
Puzzle #11 - Crack The Code
Picarats: 30/30
Using the codes below, find all twelve-letter words that have exactly four matching letters with the word 'organization'. The letters must be in the correct place to be a match. It is possible for words to drift from the end of one line to the beginning of another, as shown below. There may be from one to three words that fit that criteria.
0xF68C KSJORGANIZAT
0xF698 IONVTEBFEZUE
0xF6A4 HYJDSWRECUPE
0xF6B0 RATINGUWYMPE
0xF6BC EIAMDRRYCREL
0xF6C0 ATIONSHIPLJJ
0xF6D4 DEGGBZMCAPCY
0xF6E0 INZDVZADXBVG
0xF6EC FMPHEADQUART
0xF6F8 ERSKARGFCMXP
0xF704 QBPMUOUUEJRU
0xF710 VBLWSNJMQQF
0xF71C IHSMMEWLINFI
0xF728 LTRATIONQMTX
0xF734 WSMANEYMCONS
0xF740 PIRATORSQRZJ
0xF74C ORUIIDSMCIVI
0xF758 LIZATIONULCP
0xF764 NIMRVXBBHMCQ
0xF770 UARTERSTAFFQ
0xF77C IFDINDEFINIT
0xF788 ELYWEDDRDCIJ
0xF794 GNLINZKDMBGW
0xF7A0 AGYBIXRILIPI
0xF7AC CNDFXLNHCNBP
0xF7B8 DNWIWHSZPZQD
0xF7C4 KADSOIWAKEHK
0xF7D0 XVDLJWPODKPO
0xF7DC JDLSAJJMEKAW
0xF7E8 ANTICIPATING
0xF7F4 CYUBROADCAST
0xF800 INGYICONSTRU
0xF80C CTIONWUKPURI
0xF818 FICATIONHXSX
N
(!)
The professor looked back at the garbled code, "The first thing to do would be to find all of the words first."
"Really? I was thinking of keeping an eye out for any 'tion' patterns. There are a lot of words that end with 'tion'."
"True. However, the correct word has exactly four matching letters with 'organization' and most words that end with 'tion' have an 'a' just before it to make 'ation'. That would be at least five letters."
"Riiiiight... Well, I see 'recuperating'."
"Recuperating... R-E-C-U-P-E... No, that's only three letters. A, T, and I."
"Hmm... What about 'relationship'."
"R-E-L-A-T-I-O-N and then 'ship' which does not match 'tion'."
"That's definitely not the one. Hmm... A lot of 'ation' words here... 'Infiltration', 'civilization'... Oh, and 'purification' is all the way at the end over there."
"What about 'anticipating'? That has exactly four matching letters."
"A-N-T-I-C-I... Well, that's one so far. And the 'ati' is the other three."
ANTICIPATING
Entry denied
2/12 match.
2 ATTEMPT(S) LEFT
The professor could see the number of attempts again, "Only two left..."
"And this one only have two matching letters. Well, it's not 'broadcasting'. Oh! What about 'construction'? That's a 'tion' word without the 'a' before it."
"C-O-N-S-T-R-U-C... and the 'tion'. Yes, two letters. T and I are the only matching letters."
CONSTRUCTION
Exact match!
Please wait
while system
is accessed.
(!)
"Got it!"
There were words on the computer monitor that read the following message:
WELCOME TO BELEUCH ORGANIS (TM) COMLINK
\ Welcome, USER
Please select topic.
Beleuch Organis
Strange Phenomenon
Names/Rank
The professor saw the name at the top of the list, "Beleuch Organis... I have already heard those words several times before..."
CURRENT TOPIC:BELEUCH ORGANIS
As the most recent addition to our esteemed society, you will not be given immediate access to the benefits that befit our senior members. To rise in rank, you must prove yourself capable of the following:
1) You must fulfill any assigned role given to you by your superiors, EXACTLY as instructed.
2) You must prove yourself capable of proper leadership of an ever-growing community.
3) Your place among us must be perfectly concealed to EVERYONE around you, including those directly below you. It is for that same reason that our identities are currently being withheld.
With these three requirements in mind, we have provided you with a simple role that will serve as your initiation. Success will secure your place among us and even allow you the chance to rise to ever greater places among us. Your role is to draw upon your family's wealth to create a gold mining facility which will be used to increase the overall monetary value of this city. The resources used from this wealth will be used to reinforce a trade route through the North Sea and toward other continents throughout the world. You are being given three months to accumulate the goal of triple the overall wealth that you currently possess.
This message is not to be seen by anyone else under any circumstances. However, it is also vital to keep this message intact for later use. When we contact you after the three months have passed, send this message back to us via electronic communication along with your codename, which is also to be kept completely secret. This will be used as proof that you have fulfilled your role and that you have not been usurped without our knowledge.
We are the Pinnacle; the World is under our Eye.
The professor had just finished reading this message, "This... was not what I had expected."
"A gold mining facility? Is that what this message is about?"
"I do not believe so. If this was truly all there was to it, then there would be no need for a protected warehouse or the disposal of dead bodies... Yet, at the same time, this does not sound like something The Family would be involved in, if history serves correctly... In fact, aside from the secrecy, this seems like a fairly legitimate enterprise."
"And that message at the end... 'We are the Pinnacle; the World is under our Eye.' If it wasn't obvious that there is more to this than meets the eye, that foreboding message makes it very clear."
The professor recalled two other topics, "There was also a 'Strange Phenomenon' topic on the screen earlier."
CURRENT TOPIC:STRANGE PHENOMENON
It is not our modus operandi to contact our newest associates before our prearranged time frame, but it has come to our awareness that rumors of events that can only be considered 'extraordinary' has recently taken place in this city. Normally, we do not take mere rumors with more than a grain of salt, but when those mere rumors precede unexplainable death and destruction to befall this city, we are forced to investigate the matter. It has come to our understanding that a 'ghost', for lack of a better term, has been haunting this city for the past week now. This message has been sent to show our unease when it comes to unexplained matters interfering with our own. We do not have to remind you of the consequences of losing control of the situation.
We are the Pinnacle; the World is under our Eye.
UPDATE:STRANGE PHENOMENON
Only a week has passed since the last message and the extraordinary events have only increased in quantity since then. We've received physical evidence of this 'ghost' that was mentioned last week, as well as other bizarre events such as a bipedal panda bear with human-like intelligence, sightings of arson on a particular building that the Auric police appear to BLATANTLY IGNORE, and the sight of a man with a watermelon-sized top hat wandering around late at night with blue eyes that illuminate in the darkness.
Should you fail to regain control of the situation soon, we will be forced to step in and intervene ourselves!
We are the Pinnacle; the World is under our Eye.
"It seems your reputation precedes you, Hershel."
The professor had just finished reading this message, "But... My hat is not shaped like a watermelon!"
"It does look awfully large on you, now that I see your reflection on the monitor."
"Regardless, it seems that whoever these people are have taken notice of these events. There is also a similar message printed at the end of every topic... We are the Pinnacle; the World is under our Eye."
"Maybe that's the newest slogan..? Hehe!"
The professor recalled the final topic, "There is also a 'Names and Rank' topic."
CURRENT TOPIC:NAMES/RANK
?/NUMBER 1
VERRAT/NUMBER 36
LOWE, ATIYA
HENSON, BLYTHE
FORD, ROTEM
PITTS, SIDNEY
MONET, VOSKI
VERVERS, PRESLEY
KUNKLE, JIANG
GARLAND, BOBBIE
HERTZ, STANLEY
HINES, FRAN
MACFARLANE, FEDELMID
FERRER, GOLZAR
The professor's eyes widened when he saw the ninth name under 'Verrat/Number 36', "Stanley Hertz..?"
"Was that the same man that traumatized Cattleya?"
"To think that his very name is on this list... It would appear that we've finally found our link!"
By the way, the password puzzle in this chapter was intentionally made to be very much like the hacking minigame in "Fallout 3" and "Fallout New Vegas". Just so you know, I just several new games and one of them is the Reaper of Souls expansion for Diablo 3! Yea... That means that I might not add the next chapter for a while since I'll be... occupied. If demand is high, I might be a little quicker, but otherwise I'm not expecting the next chapter to be coming out for a while. As always, feel free to review!