[ARG] The Pizza Code Mystery

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#2841

I was snooping around on some of the devs’ steam profiles, and I noticed the following comment by Storm on TextFAMGUY1’s steam profile: “Aluminium”. It looks like he was correcting an “incorrect” (US/Canadian) spelling of the word in the previous comment posted by one of the other devs. I’ve seen this comment before but I didn’t think much about it then. This time around, however, I decided to check the wikipedia article on aluminium. The article states that there are 22 known isotopes of aluminium from [sup]21[/sup]Al to [sup]42[/sup]Al. Note the mass numbers 21 and 42, these are very interesting numbers. Then there’s the 22 known isotopes, and the 22 comments on the kxbm.net site. Also, depending on the font, Al and AI can be visually indistiguishable from one another. Perhaps the “Is AI” on the Tempus page is a double hint: on one hand it’s a hint that we’re dealing with an AI, and on the other hand a hint for Isotopes of Aluminium (even though the letter I in AI has always been I as in India).

However, I’ve found other sources which state that there are 23 known isotopes (the last isotope being [sup]43[/sup]Al), which makes the wikipedia article outdated, and it kind of invalidates the connection. But Storm could have based his information on what’s written on wikipedia.

I can’t see how this explains what “21 into 1” means. I don’t know, I think this is probably just another one of the many weird coincidences in this ARG, and the “aluminium” comments are probably just references to an internal joke or something they were talking about amongst themselves. It’s still weird though.

If aluminium does somehow figure into this puzzle, then maybe it’s part of some metal alloy being used in the HALOS project, or used in the processors along with niobium.

#2842

If we’re looking at elements, here are some fun facts. Element 22, titanium, is often alloyed with Niobium and other elements to produce superalloys for use in rocket engines and other assemblies. Additionally, niobium-titanium alloys are type II superconductors, with applications in MRI machines and particle accelerators. For some fun with 21: Scandium, element 21, was historically alloyed with aluminum for use in the Russian MiG.

Edit: For those who would rather not grasp at straws, here are some interesting thoughts I have on some of the clues we’ve been given:

IRC Clue 1: Applying the [Recipient] [Message] [Sender] format yields the message “Don’t let him find us,” from Dr. Welsh to Dr. Horn. Also, the version that appears in “Tempus omnia revelant,” under a section evidently written by “HALOS AUTOMATED,” adds an attempt to triangulate the source. That section also contains a list of Niobium isotopes.

IRC Clue 5: The inner code is designated as a message for Dr. Horn, to be sent by HALOS “in level seven cases.” The inner code transmission is preceded by an attempt to connect to “User H,” the subsequent sending of data, and the statement “SECURITY LEVEL 7 ALPHA.” The clue also contains an attempt to locate the leak suspected in IRC Clue 3

If I were to take a guess right now, I would say HALOS is online and not friendly.

#2843

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_(number)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21_(number)

#2844

Maybe we should stop with this, if we continue we might set things in motion we cannot undo, god knows what could happen to us, to the world

#2845

1 is the ASCII code for Start of Header. The Hex code is 376 bytes, 8 short of an even 384 for a 128 bit block. Scandium is element 21, and consists of 8 letters.

#2846

Did anyone get any idea of where the hats were co-ordinates wise? Maybe if we triangulate their co ordinates on the mao, we might get something?

#2847

21 goes into 1[/size]
[/size][/size]
In the memorandum from the Office of the Administrator Support Personnel Division

To: C Green
From: LM
Subject: Anamalous
Materials Requisition
Date: 6/11/200-
CC: Dr. Kleiner

The third paragraph states:
“Therefore the senior staff has decided that GG-3883 will replace EP-0021 in the simulation”

The two main clues we’ve been given are:

  1. “This unlocks at the start of the end. 21 into 1”
  2. " I have a hint for you 21 goes into 1"

EP-0021 was the original sample that was going to be used so, the clues “21 goes into 1” and “21 into 1” would mean that the answer is the Anti-Mass Spectrometer.

Clue one also says “This unlocks at the start of the end” and the Anti-Mass Spectrometer actually physically unlocked and literally unlocked an opening to Xen that was literally the start of the end of civilization as we know it. The answer fits perfectly to the clues.

Could one of these be the answer?

Characters…Phrase
23…Resonance Cascade Chamber
27…Resonance Cascade Chamber Door
30…The Resonance Cascade Chamber Door
32…Door to the Resonance Cascade Chamber
35…The Door to the Resonance Cascade Chamber
21…Anti-Mass Spectrometer
24…The Anti-Mass Spectrometer
20…Antimass Spectrometer
23…The Antimass Spectrometer

#2848

Maybe 21 into 1 means we have to replace all of the ones in something with G-3883 ? It’s farfetched, but then everything in this ARG seems to be

#2849

I also think its worth noting that its unlikely that Kryptos or any of the CIA things relate to solving the 752 Hex because A. There was no mention of the CIA before the hint where Storm said someone was close, and B. I think he was just using a phrase, stating that any simple decryption methods would not work alone, and that there would be some external factor that we’re missing.

#2850

#2851

Thanks, I remember you writing that but couldn’t find the post

#2852

This actually makes a little bit of sense, when i translated the HEX to UTF-8 i actually got a few korean symbols, one of which translated into vessle, more importantly a 3 legged vessel. Could be coincidence but you never know.

EDIT : Also on the whiteboard C2a4x labboard15.jpg is says something about Cascade Cyphers, linking to the Ressonance Cascade

EDIT 2 : Same whiteboard has a Rednote stated to Call Anomalous Materials on Ext. 01(4 or 6)33

#2853

Also i was reading on the Phone Extensions Page, and being in England the 01(4/6)33 is a area code to either Newport(4) or Derby (6) You would then need 6 numbers after that to make a connection in the UK

#2854

Checking the AMS both inside and out with noclip, I didn’t find anything that seems like it would be part of this. (Though I did notice that it was incidentally numbered 3 - I doubt that’s significant in any way, though, so don’t get your hopes up)
I also found a little box with a screen texture directly underneath the sample elevator, but it’s just a standard looking static texture and I didn’t notice any changes on it at any point in the cascade. Odd that it would be there at all, though, unless they used it for a func_monitor in some place I didn’t notice.

#2855

Interesting. The way you are reading the inner message of IRC clue 5 differs from the way it’s written on the wiki page where punctuation marks have been inserted to make the message easier to read. The meaning seems to change depending on how we read it. For example, “I have programmed HALOS to send in level seven cases” vs. “I have programmed HALOS to send in level seven cases”.

EDIT:

In the HTML code of the kxbm.net article page, inside the

tag where the image of the ham/cb radio is found, we find this message inside HTML comment tags:

Like the other quotes found on the page in base64 encoded filenames, it’s a line spoken by a scientist. This particular quote was probably placed there to hint that there was something going on with the ham radio.

However, there’s another interesting fact about that quote. The line is only spoken if you try to use (or go near) the computer terminal on the wall in the AM lobby, both in BM and in HL1. In BM, this is displayed on the terminal screen (with misspellings and all):

ANTI-MASS SPECTROMETRE TERMIAL 2B LOADING PROTOCAL.......... COMPLETE ESTABLISHING LINK.......... COMPLETE SYSTEM READY :
One idea I’ve been playing with is whether the reference to something being analyzed in HALOS.txt could have something to do with mass spectrometry or crystallography.

#2856

Just a quick thought, but 21 ‘goes into’ 1 0.0476190476190476 times (i.e., 1 / 21 = 0.0476190476190476).

#2857

Nice work! I’ve been pouring over all the whiteboards for clues, so I was aware of the change in the samples, but I never paid attention to the numbers. There is a good chance 21 may refer to the sample EP-0021. However, I not entirely convinced that 1 refers to the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. EP-0021 never technically went into it over the course of the game.

The mention of the switch in samples, however, reminded me of what was written on the whiteboard with the budget and the description of the cascade cipher. There is a not mentioning a specimen transfer from the Lambda complex to the Biodome.

Remember how the keyword for the SECOM cipher, “laseroptroniclinearinducercannon,” was written on the same board as the ciphertext? This might be a similar case. After doing a bit of background research, and considering how the board mentions that the area is still under construction, we may need to widen our search for clues.

#2858

We saw something similar in the IRC clue 4 puzzle as well. IRC clue 1 and 3 had [tt][Terminal.][/tt] at the end of the message. This was missing in in IRC clue 4. Instead, IRC clue 4 had [tt][********][/tt] preceding the the OTR block with the inner code, which looks like a password masked with asterisks. The number of asterisks is 8, which also happens to be the number of characters in TERMINAL. As it turned out, the key to the innermost code was indeed TERMINAL. However, I don’t think anyone realized it at the time that there was a hint as to the key right next to the code.

If something similar exists in the HALOS code puzzle, then the key could be hinted at inside the HALOS.txt file itself, the 1001085139140914.html file or the “grilled pizza”. We have the “21 goes into 1” hint, which was recently found somewhere else on stormseeker’s site, but that hint was placed there a year after we got the HALOS file.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that in the message in HALOS.txt, where we usually find [tt][Terminal.][/tt] in the IRC clues, we find instead [tt][ABORTIVE.][/tt]. This has to mean something.

#2859

A few days ago, I looked over the IRC clues to see if there were any clues the formatting. I reached the same idea regarding the [********] in IRC 4 at that time.

What strikes me as most notable regarding IRC 6 and HALOS.txt is the proxyhost, which is different from all previous messages.

My guess is that the IRC clues are transmission from HALOS. (IRC 1 included an intercepted transmission, as the Tempus page suggests)

Taken together, there are three adresses, which I’ve taken to indicate three HALOS sites. The first is 164, which intercepted IRC 1 and sent IRC 4. The second is 155, which I believe was built using Nb from HAFB. This one sent out IRC 3, with IRC 5 being a sort of automated “dying message” when the site was compromised.

The third is 345, which I believe is the newest site, set up by Horn after he received IRC 5, hence “you should bring pizzas,” being code for Niobium to build a new computer to run HALOS.

I’m not sure how IRC 2 fits in.

EDIT: Perhaps IRC 2 was just a simple message, rather than a transmission from HALOS. That would explain the lack of the typical formatting.

#2860

Probably coincidental but the 6 IRC clues can be added up into 21.

1+2+3+4+5+6=21

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