Dark Aether Intel / Trials Computer Ciphers (Needs help Solving)

[PINNAZ]

SEND HELP - Theses ciphers need solving as I think they are KEYS to a larger Cipher

 

 

Dark Aether Intel Document #1 - $!%()$3@!

Spoiler

 

$!%()$3@!

"Content unknown. No available translation. Possibly a system error from the computer"

 

 

 

INSPECT DOCUMENT

Note ~ The text on the left image is slightly different to the text on the right image (Human error?)

 

Text on left Image ~

 

$!%()$3@!

 

#$@$&) &%#!( >~}%< *>?:;=
?<-$@)

 

 

Text on right Image ~

 

#$@ ^$(&) &%#!( >~}%< *>?:;=^
?<-$@)

 

.

 

 

 

 

Dark Aether Intel Document #2 - I @N#B%D! O% T@#&

Spoiler

 

I @N#B%D! O% T@#&

"Content Unknown. No available translation. The symbol arrangement seems almost intentional, it might be not a systems error, but a scrambled message."

 

 

 

INSPECT DOCUMENT

Text on Image ~

 

I @N#B%D! O% T@#&

 

&!~>/“; !h:d)</ $<]\0:@ Ja),”:
5d ‘:kr ?/>+gh %#ater.

 

.

 

 

 

 

Dark Aether Intel Document #3 - Day 13,773

Spoiler

 

Day 13,773

"Day 13,773: Keyboard finally functional. Screen still hit or miss. Must re-test internal components, make sure nothing is fried.

 

Still not sure if this thing is transmitting. At least I graduated from pen and paper, which are harder and harder to come by.

 

Will continue transmission attempts. Have plenty to broadcast. My journal of survival. I can only hope someone is listening."

 

 

INSPECT DOCUMENT

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

Trials / Intel Machine 2nd Screen Message

Spoiler

*** Activate Power & do / achieve 3 Intel Trials to change screen message ??? ***

 

Images on screen ~

 

Hello

 

*Face silhouette*

 

Are you there?

 

03 08 09 06 18 03
02 15 09 18 13 02
15 09 20 05 25 07
06 09 08 02 17 07
12 05 05 15 12 09

 

 

 

 

 

03 08 09 06 18 03
02 15 09 18 13 02
15 09 20 05 25 07
06 09 08 02 17 07
12 05 05 15 12 09

 

 

Credit to Origin Wormy on Geeky Pastimes Discord - Unconfirmed speculation

 

Convert numbers using A1Z26

C H I F R C

B O I R M B

O I T E Y G

F I H B Q G L

E E O L I

 

Convert using Beaufort

FXDGX

FDXDX

VDXDV

DGFGG

ADVFD

DAXAG

 

Looks like a ADFGVX Cipher

 

Then we need a KEY to use ???????

 

 

 

gif by @Humphrey on discord
 

 

.

 

 

 

My Thoughts 

Spoiler

 

I'm probably looking way to deep here, but depending on the plaintext messages of these 3 other ciphers, I'm wondering if there is a larger cipher?

 

All other cipher keys / hints have been found on "post-it sticky notes"

 

On the Trials / Intel computer is a "post-it sticky note" which reads ~

 

Prove yourself_

To the Victor

go the spoils

 

 

 

VIC cipher

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIC_cipher

 

The VIC cipher was a pencil and paper cipher used by the Soviet spy Reino Häyhänen, codenamed "VICTOR".

 

 

The secret key for the encryption is the following:

• A short Phrase (e.g. the first line of a song)
• A Date (in a 6-digit format)
• A Personal Number (unique to agent, a 1 or 2 digit number)

The encryption was also aided by the adversary not knowing a 5-digit Keygroup which was unique to each message. The Keygroup was not strictly a 'secret', (as it was embedded in-clear in the ciphertext), but it was at a location in the ciphertext that was not known to an adversary.

The cipher broadly worked as follows:

1. Use the secrets above (Phrase, Date, Keygroup and Personal Number) create a 50 digit block of pseudo random-numbers
2. Use this block to create the message keys for:
   1. A Straddling Checkerboard
   2. Two Columnar transpositions
3. Encrypt the Plaintext message via the straddling checkerboard
4. Apply two transpositions to the resultant (intermediary) ciphertext through two columnar
   1. A 'Standard' Columnar Transposition
   2. A Diagonal Columnar Transposition
5. Insertion of the Keygroup into the ciphertext - as determined by the Personal Number

 

.

 

 

[gorgorro]

Just a hunch and not going off of much but the I think the title for Dark Aether Document #2 is "Is Anybody Out There". That's really only because that's only thing that makes sense to me. Not sure why "is", "out" and "there" are missing letters in the scrambled message.

[CapnTeej]

Hey, are you still working on this? Have been trying to figure out all sorts this afternoon although not trained in ciphers so having to learn how to do it all from scratch. The ADFGVX looks likely/promising, but having tried it with a few different keys which seemed plausible I can't think of anything else at the moment - tried using Victor, tried using the missing letters in Is Anybody Out There (if it is a case that they are missing letters, not that it's a scrambled message in itself) - and a few others. Same with the scrambled messages being a Vic cipher, based on the clue seems very likely. After work I'm going to go through the other computers when the power is on as there is writing on there but can't find screenshots anywhere. Perhaps we should be looking into why the underscore after prove yourself?

[PINNAZ]

@CapnTeej Here are the Particle Accelerator Room Computer Screens if you're interested.

 

i_mtl_p9_zm_ndu_machine_computer_screen_01_c

Translated ~

ARBEITSVERZEICHNIS = LIST OF WORK

Override akzeptiert - Akt HT6 = Override accepted

Act HT6 - Akzeptiert = Accepted

Verweigert = Refused

VERLASSEN = RELY

NeuerName = New Name

 

 

i_mtl_p9_zm_ndu_machine_computer_screen_02_c

Translated ~

 

 

 

i_mtl_p9_zm_ndu_machine_computer_screen_03_c

Translated ~

 

 

 

i_mtl_p9_zm_ndu_machine_computer_screen_06_c

Translated ~

 

 

 

i_mtl_p9_zm_ndu_machine_computer_screen_07_c

Translated ~

 

 

 

i_mtl_p9_zm_ndu_machine_computer_screen_08_c

Translated ~

 

 

 

 

i_mtl_p9_zm_ndu_machine_computer_screen_09_c

Translated ~

 

 

 

[CapnTeej]

@PINNAZ Thank you! That is much easier to work with!

 

I posted about this on Reddit (credited you over here ofc) https://www.reddit.com/r/CODZombies/comments/l1j1q0/has_anyone_figured_out_the_dark_aether_intel/

 

Wondering if the fact that what you have named above as i_mtl_p9_zm_ndu_machine_computer_screen_07_c is present in the dark aether along with computer_screen_09_c  (and they are the only ones present in the Aether, other screens all seem to be off) means anything? I don't recognise that from anywhere, looks almost like a pool or something.

[PINNAZ]

@CapnTeej I randomly came across your post on reddit before as I was scrolling "new content"

Which made me revisit this thread just now. Saw my name as the 1st word on your post hahah.

 

I actually haven't taken any notice to the appearance of the screens in Dark Aether so not sure on that.

 

From what I gather, these images are just the science behind the Particle Accelerator?

 

The "POOL" is on one side of the room.

 

And the "RECHNER STARTEN" = Start the Computer"? is on the other side of the room.

Take notice of the in game hint pop-up when you press these buttons to start the accelerator, they are both different descriptions.

 

You turn the power on, but pressing the other 2 buttons activates the Anomaly. 

 

 

I don't think these have anything to do with the 2 Dark Aether Intel messages.

 

Nor the Number cipher which is shown on the Trials Maschine

[CapnTeej]

Ha, I hope you don't mind my name dropping!

 

Wasn't sure that they were either, just hadn't seen them linked to anything else yet and figured at some stage need to bring together other sources to see if anything might fit in.

 

6 minutes ago, PINNAZ said:

Take notice of the in game hint pop-up when you press these buttons to start the accelerator, they are both different descriptions.

 

I will do when I'm doing a run through after work, will be checking for more notes around too although I think all the post-its etc. have been found unfortunately.

[PINNAZ]

@CapnTeej

After reading @gorgorroreply, That Intel title is surely ~

 

"I  @N#B%D! O%  T@#&
IS  ANYBODY OUT THERE [S T E]= are missing characters]

 

 

Which leads me to Intel # 3 - "Day 13,773" = LEET SPEAK

 

"LEET KEYBOARD FINALLY FUNCTIONAL"

 

 

 

I'm almost certain Intel # 1 & 2 are written in a form of "LEET"

 

Just need to work out the corresponding characters for the answers

 

[CapnTeej]

@PINNAZ

 

Looks plausible too, wonder why they would put it as 13,773 instead of 1337 though? Have started to look through and if it is leet then this could be useful

 

https://www.gamehouse.com/blog/leet-speak-cheat-sheet/

 

Going to be hard to decode if so, given the reuse of the same numbers and symbols in combination to make one letter.

 

Wonder whether the Victor 'hint' was a red herring then...

[PINNAZ]

9 hours ago, CapnTeej said:

Wonder whether the Victor 'hint' was a red herring then...

The Trials computer number matrix cipher  maybe completely separate to these two Intel texts. 

[CapnTeej]

Maybe it is. I spent some time earlier trying with l33tspeak but haven't got anything of note so far, other than if you take the unique characters of each line of the $!%()$3@! text (where it differs from the note on the screen and the note in intel) it gives you ( from one line  and ^^) in another. Could be (^^) as an emoji, or if we were looking at it from 133t speak view could be CMD, CNND or CAAD, so long as I have my lines the right way round (otherwise would be MDC, NNDC, AADC, MX, NNX or AAX). Thought I'd give typing cmd, cmd.exe a go in the chat box and as well as not in chat box but predictably nothing happened, and no sign of a command console around the map from what we've seen so far.

 

By the way, can you tell what the first trials computer side screen says? Can't tell if after it says "play" then "the game" it says "or die" or something else, too blurry and can't find a gif.

[CapnTeej]

Just been playing Firebase Z - there's a trials computer there too from the same person! Perhaps there's missing intel which will lead us to the solution.... Will be able to play properly later and see if I can uncover anything (and will be checking the reddit thread to see if anyone posts the intel there).