[ARG] The Pizza Code Mystery

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#2081

Your efforts were my saving grace when compiling the timeline–without that information provided, I would have had a hard time recalling when exactly we solved specific puzzles. For that, I thank you :slight_smile:

The timeline is now available on the blog here: Timeline Post

It will also be added to a new page on the Wiki later on which will include both the timeline and the concept map.

EDIT: Concept map has now been added to the blog. You can open or save it directly through this link: Concept Map

960×540 146 KB

EDIT 2: Both the timeline and concept map have been added to the Wiki and the main page updated to reflect the new addition: Timeline and Concept Map Page

EDIT 3: Based on the fact that the Latin connection comes late in IRC Clue #5 and the Tempus page, I think it is safe to assume that it is important and was added by Storm to significantly help us. I am sure that the Inferno reference plays into that as well even though it wasn’t mentioned as often as the Latin connection. That said, I am curious if there is perhaps a cipher or algorithm that was developed by someone of Latin influence. I say this because the SECOM clue was pretty direct about its origin. Furthermore, Storm has been quiet, which despite the work he is doing on the game, potentially suggests that he cannot give us anymore without giving up the ghost. By extension, that could suggest that his latest tips are the strongest.

#2082

Really impressive work. This with the wiki will help a lot. :smiley:

Since we’re revisiting old theories, I’ve tried the image one. A png file of 64*25 pixels, containing the alphabet twice, that is, 52 chars, without the file header, has 820 hex chars, and entropy of 0.9925 over 1, that’s extremely high. I did some test looking for the CRC value that the png files have at the end, and it seems it does not match, so it is not a png file, but maybe it is another kind of image file.

Another thing I’ve been looking is into timestamps. Tempus Omnia Revelant might reffer to that. Several file formats have a timestamp, in diverse locations, for instance, PKZIP. I’ve been searching on the start of the 752code, and 3A35BADD is a timestamp for the 2000-12-12 at 06:42:53

https://www.fmdiff.com/fm/timestamp.html?session=vc8uqio2fsg9op81ohnhbthclmsb21j3

This might be a coincidence, because some file formats use reversed pairs of bits (something-little-endian-something). But it’s one hour and 12 years over the time the Tempus Omnia Revelant page was posted. That would be a really remarkable coincidence if it was not a time stamp, if this is the way to go, then the only thing left is find a file format whose blocks of data match and make sense filling them with the 752code with an offset accounting for the header that identifies the file format. Also, the file type should have a high entropy, probably some compressed file.

#2083

I’m not sure if this is just someone trolling, or a new clue, but someone has posted two comments on the wiki from an IP address based in the UK:

First, a comment on the Lapis Philosophorum page (formerly known as “Message text 2”):

Vitamin A 2% Vitamin C 1% Calcium 8% Iron 8% Vitamin D 21% Vitamin B-6 20% Vitamin B-12 311% Magnesium 11%

(slightly reformatted since the table format didn’t transfer well when copying)

Then a comment on the BMRF.us page:

This unlocks at the start of the end. 21 into 1.
#2084

Thanks, Angel!

Nice catch, man!

EDIT: The “unlocks at the start of the end” part probably just means that we won’t be able to access this site until the very last segment of the ARG. The 21 into 1 might also have something to do with the Vitamins C and D on the nutrition info comment–they are 1% and 21%, respectively.

1 Like
#2085

That IP is from Aldershot, in Hampshire, but it could still be him.

The second one could mean that we can obviate terminal.bmrf.us for now, this unlocks at the start of the end, that is, this will be available at the last puzzle or series of puzzles in the ARG, 21 into 1… well, I don’t know, but maybe turning a 21 into a 1? Is there any significant information that has a 21? (Edit: maybe vitamin D on the other message?)

The other has what it seems like recommended intakes for some kind of food or suplement, since it has a ton of B-12, but the fact that it contains relatively low values on the others could mean that it is actually some kind of food, maybe… pepperoni pizza? :stuck_out_tongue: It could also be a custom cipher.

Edit Nº 2: 21 into 1, Vitamin D into Vitamin C, D into C, there was a map in biodome which had some labs incorrectly labeled, I think Lab D was labelled as Lab C, but I do not recall exactly.

#2086

[b][COLOR=‘Red’]I think the nutrition info could be for a type of fish. For instance, here’s mackerel:

How much Vitamin A is in Mackerel? Amount of Vitamin A in Mackerel:Vitamin A 40.5IU 1%
How much Vitamin B6 is in Mackerel? Amount of Vitamin B6 in Mackerel:Vitamin B6 0.7mg 52%
How much Vitamin B12 is in Mackerel? Amount of Vitamin B12 in Mackerel:Vitamin B12 7.4μg 311%
How much Vitamin C is in Mackerel? Amount of Vitamin C in Mackerel:Vitamin C 3.7mg 7%
How much Vitamin D is in Mackerel? Amount of Vitamin D in Mackerel:Vitamin D 20.1μg 134%
How much Vitamin D3 is in Mackerel? Amount of Vitamin D3 in Mackerel:Vitamin D3 20.1μg -
How much Vitamin E is in Mackerel? Amount of Vitamin E in Mackerel:Vitamin E 2.2mg 8%
How much Vitamin K is in Mackerel? Amount of Vitamin K in Mackerel:Vitamin K 0.2μg 1%
How much Calcium is in Mackerel? Amount of Calcium in Mackerel:Calcium 51mg 6%
How much Iron is in Mackerel? Amount of Iron in Mackerel:Iron 2.6mg 33%[/b]

–Red Herring

#2087

Just a few comments on the other things going on:

I’m glad it proved useful. :slight_smile: It should be noted though that the dates on the IRC clue pages are the dates for when the IRC clues were discovered (not solved). And just for the record, two of the IRC clue pages already had a note of the date, but the dates on the rest of them were filled in by me.

That’s an impressive chart. :awesome:

I have one question though, shouldn’t Dr. Horn be mentioned in there somewhere?

Also, I’m thinking maybe Satan should have a bubble of its own, sort of as a counter-weight to the God bubble. This is not to suggest you draw a new version of the chart or anything, because it obviously took a lot of work.

There is also the latin phrase on the alchemy whiteboard: “Lapis Philosophorum” (Philosopher’s Stone). However, its relation to the ARG still unclear.

#2088

Holy Mackerel… Maybe he’s pointing towards the DCL for SVM.

I found the map, it has lab C labeled as lab D and lab D labeled as lab B.

Edit: I’ll go to the IRC, just in case somebody wants to discuss this last clue

#2089

[COLOR=‘Red’][b]So Storm . . . would you mind maybe verifying that those comments were posted by you because my head is about to explode from all of the information I had sift through to compile for the concept map and timeline? Any more red herrings and I might barf.

EDIT: That nutritional information might not even matter in regards to what the food is. Might just be a reference or numerical hint.[/b]

–Red Herring

#2090

all that b12 makes me think of an energy drink

#2091

I think he once said the start of the end, but in relation to what, I don’t know. I’ve been searching but I can’t find the comment. Nevertheless, if he did say it, anyone could know that and use it, so, yes, some confirmation would be appreciated

#2092

Thanks, man! I’m just glad it’s not too confusing–there are a lot of lines and data in there, so I’m thrilled that people are able to utilize it the way it’s intended.

I did think about adding him in, but the chart was mainly to highlight points that we have yet to place/solve. Since we already knew that Dr. Horn and other members of the BM staff were involved, it would have been redundant and taken up a good amount of room.

I missed that one!

Something I just thought of is that we have yet to implement many of the whiteboards that Storm included in the game. What if each whiteboard or small series of whiteboards is related to another section of the ARG? Storm did mention, both as himself and as Code_/0418, that he is a veteran ARGer, so it’s possible that we have barely scratched the surface of this thing. I only know as much of Storm as he’s introduced to us, but even from that I can assume that his ARG magnum opus, if that’s what this is, would be just that–dense, packed with clues/information, and incredibly well-planned.

EDIT: “This unlocks at the start of the end. 21 into 1.”

This could mean that there are 21 puzzles or puzzle groups planned–in other words, once those 21 puzzles have turned into having only 1 left, the site unlocks. Seems like a lot, but I wouldn’t put it past the man.

#2093

The nutritional information seems pretty close to being a literal red herring. Give or take some red food colouring.

Consider me amused. :slight_smile:

#2094

It might be a red herring, but the values are not that close, specially B-12.

#2095

I’m with you on this 100%. I think this is Storm’s way of saying that we can forget about the Lapis whiteboard and associated Wiki page as being relevant.

As for the BMRF login page, we probably won’t be needing that for a while.

So, where does that leave us?

. . . .

Right where we were. At least he was kind enough to kick one red herring out of the picture. If he’s paying this much attention to our speculation, maybe it means we are getting close (again).

#2096

21 into 1 is another way of saying 1 divided by 21 or 0.047619048, just to be extremely literal.

#2097

This could very simply be a date, meaning BMRF.us unlocks on the 21st of January.

#2098

21 is vitamin C and 1 is vitamin D so its about de Code C & D

#2099

Damn, I am beyond confused at this point.

BEYOND confused.

#2100

I found the exact source of the nutrition info. It’s kippered herring. The nutrition values in the comment match the values shown in the side panel when you google kippered herring (make sure “100 grams” is selected in the “Amount Per” drop down menu).

So, I think I’ll just go ahead and move the link to the “Lapis Philosophorum” wiki page from the main page over to the the “Extra Game Info” page.

About the “21 into 1”. Maybe the 21 has something to do with the number of keybits used by the 3-key 3DES cipher, which is 168. 168 bits/8 = 21 bytes. But the actual key supplied to the algorithm is 192 bits. The rightmost bit in each byte of the key is a so-called parity bit used for error checking and isn’t part of the key. So maybe we must convert a 21 byte/character key into a 24 byte key by inserting those parity bits into the 21 byte key.

This is not a novel idea. I did this in my insane “toasted pizza key” attempt. I also mentioned something similar back when we “were close”, except that the idea was to discard the leftmost bit in each character of the key (since they are all 0 for standard ASCII characters) by bitshifting each byte to the left by 1, thus inserting 0s in the parity bit positions.

And then there is this: It may be a coincidence (I’ve seen many weird coincidences in this ARG), but the “DR STONE WILL PAY”, written in this picture on the Tempus Omnia Revela[n]t page:

can be anagrammed to “DES PARITY LOW LN”.

But then we still need a 21 byte/character key. And we don’t know whether those bytes are ASCII characters or something else.

If we assume the key is made up of ASCII characters, and we are going to try a lot of passwords based on this idea, we will have to write a script/program, because none of the tools I’ve found can do this.

If this is the right idea, then the solution requires some technical skills, but maybe there is a non-technical part of the puzzle involved in figuring out those 21 bytes needed for the key.

Also, I’m wondering if the message might have been compressed before it was encrypted, to make things even more difficult. If that is true, then we will have to check for compressed data after each decryption attempt. Compressed data can look just as random as a failed decryption attempt.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.