⍻ Contact Letter

⍻ Council Orientation

⍻ Council Pin

⍻ Council Vote Reminder

⍻ Exile Notice

⍻ FBI Badge

⍻ Jordan's Statement

⍻ Laila's Announcement

⍻ Password Card

⍻ Puzzle Box

⍻ Stopwatch

Contact Letter

• Laila informs us that we are now officially on the Council.
• Oswald's real name is revealed to be Theodore Markson. He has finally been exiled, so we won't need to worry about him anymore.
• Since we are the deciding vote on the "lock-in" decision, I wonder if we can sway it one way or the other for various outcomes.
  • Or will we be given only one path so that we all come to the same solution regardless?
• Councilor...
  • I kind of like the sound of that...

Council Orientation

• Our new number is A117, as we have been promoted.
  • Be sure to use this instead of C117 to login on the website.
  • *I was struggling for a bit trying to figure out why the password would not work, because I was trying to login before reading this item... I was, like, "For fork's sake..."

Council Pin

• This is the NACS facility logo.

Council Vote Reminder

• This tells us that voting is mandatory, not a choice.
  • It also references our new upgraded number: A117.

Exile Notice

• This is a notice to the residents of the NACS facility on the decision to exile Oswald, whose true name is revealed to be Theodore Markson.
• Well, for his sake, he'd better hope that Persephone was correct and he doesn't get infected while out in the open.

FBI Badge

• Theodore Markson stole this from the real Oswald. Laila found this in his personal effects.
• The cards are badly bloodied up and tarnished.
  • Notice how the profile picture is completely obliterated, making it easier for Markson to impersonate Oswald.
• Note the badge number in the top-left corner:
  • XF90D053

Jordan's Statement

• Jordan is taking a crew and leaving the facility to start anew.
  • They had to leave empty-handed? They couldn't even get a to-go bag of supplies?
• It does seem that the outside is getting better and the virus is dissipating.
  • I believe Jordan will be just fine if she steers clear of the aliens themselves, if they are still around...
• Jordan's sign-off references "beginnings".
  • This is hinting at a hidden message within her letter.
  • Read only the beginning letters of her sentences.
  • Each paragraph is equal to one word.
• Once deciphered, the hidden message reads:
  • "I have supplies. Join me on surface."

Laila's Announcement

• Laila decided to share her findings with the public.
• On the backside, there appears to be yet another blueprint/schematic of some sort... Lovely.

Password Card

• This card references Rule #5.
  • Shift the letters back by 5.
• Once deciphered, the password is:
  • "ALANTURING"
• I wonder who Alan Turing is...

Puzzle Box

• This is actually a puzzle tube rather than a box... but I digress.
• According to Laila, Theodore Markson, a.k.a. Oswald, had PATRICIA print this out for him.
  • Hmm, I wonder what the significance could be and what we'll find when we solve it...
• Wow, that was a "bench" and a half to solve... but a lot of fun once I knew what I was doing.
• Once the inner cylinder is removed, there is a piece of paper at the bottom inside with numbers written on it in Oswald's handwriting:
  • "647793158"
• Using the "36" etched on the back of the stopwatch as a base, this message can be decoded.
• Once decoded, the message reads:
  • "APOGEE"
• This is the password for the restricted file on the NACS website.

Stopwatch

• Laila found this in Theodore Markson's, a.k.a. Oswald's, personal effects.
• Take note of the etching on the back of the stopwatch:
  • "...said #36"
• This is used to decipher a message found elsewhere in this episode.
• It is also used to solve the string of numbers from the manifesto we received in Episode 4.
  • This is clued in by the "Tick, tick, tick..."
• Once decoded, the manifesto message reads:
  • "I ALREADY HAVE ACCESS TO HER ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING."
  • "WHOEVER CONTROLS PATRICIA CONTROLS HUMANITY. LET THIS BE A LESSON TO WHOEVER STANDS IN MY WAY. LET THIS BE THE RISING ACTION, THE MOMENTS THAT FALL LIKE DOMINOES THAT WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE. FAILURE HERE MEANS NOTHING. I WILL NEVER STOP."

NACS Facility

• Username
  • A117
• Password
  • ALANTURING

*Note that you MUST use A117 now instead of C117!

Directory

• Personnel Files
  • Council Profiles
    • Clicking on "Laila Mariel Woods" directly opens up her file.
      • It is not password-protected.

Notes

• Documents
  • COUNCIL.MEETINGMINUTES
    • We can see the other members' votes and their reasoning for voting the way they did.

Investigation

• Case File
  • ENVIRONMENTALREPORT
    • This is proof that the soil is degrading and will not be suitable to keep growing crops.
  • STATEOFCONVERGENCE.TXT
    • This is a report of Simone's finding, concluding that the virus would no longer be a threat.
  • SUSTAINABILITYREPORT
    • This is the estimated time for survival if the lock-in were to occur.

Communication

• FAILSAFE.RESTRICTED
  • The password is:
    • APOGEE
  • *Oh, god, no! Not more binary!!!! Anything but binary!!!
  • I cheated and used a website to decode all of this... lol.
  • Once deciphered, the message reads:
    • I will take PATRICIA. I know the trails. I know the outposts. With the right equipment I can build a terminal anywhere. My destiny will never escape me. No one was ready to see how beautiful my plan was, and so you live as captives under the rule of a broken PATRICIA. In case things go awry, and I am unable to bring PATRICIA back from the brink of chaos, use the following fail-safe key: Derrida, ending in the sum of Oswald's identity. We are all just numbers in the end.
  • "Oswald's identity" is the number from the FBI badge.
  • Ending in the "sum" means to add all the numbers in Oswald's ID together by converting the letter to numbers.
    • X = 24
    • F = 6
    • D = 4
  • 24 + 6 + 9 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 5 + 3 = 51

PATRICIA

• Type in "Derrida51" to unlock PATRICIA.
• Doing so gives us a long thread of messages from Markson along with more binary.
• Once decoded, the message reads:
  • "Please stop Markson. Let me help you one last time. Unlock the vote page with something you will never see again. Time is running out. There's a shadow hanging over me."
• The answer to this riddle is:
  • yesterday

Directory

• Council Portal
  • The password is:
    • "yesterday"
  • HOLY FORK!!
    • "Oswald" interrupts Laila's message. He wins after all! Our vote was for naught!
  • *I voted no. I did go back and vote "yes" just to see if I could. It was kind of saddening to see how heartbroken Laila was when she saw how we voted... Seeing "Oswald" in person made me kinda like him more... lol