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Unfortunately, the specific answers for these puzzles can vary wildly and will be unique to you, so we can’t just give you the passcodes and passphrases for the floppy disk. We can, however, tell you how the puzzles work, so you’ll easily be able to solve it for yourself.
Front Page of the Observer
Bell has special training, allowing them to quickly surmise hidden codes. Take a look at the Evidence: Front Page of the Observer, then take note of all the red letters. You’ll need to unscramble them to find the name of a city.
Match the city to one of those listed in the Numbers Station Broadcast to get a four-digit number, which you’ll need to unlock the first prompt of the floppy disk.
OUR EXAMPLE
Looking at the page, the following letters stand out to Bell:
N, M, D, I, A, S, O. Rearranging these letters against the list of names on the Numbers Station Broadcast will give us “Madison,” which has a corresponding code number of 0629. The first solution, for us, is 0629.
A Coded Message
For this piece of evidence, you’ll need to determine a pattern for a sequence of numbers. The first pattern involves a sequence of Red numbers, and the second is a sequence of Blue numbers. The missing Red number and the missing Blue number will form a 4-digit number that is also located on the Numbers Station Broadcast.
The city name on the Numbers Station Broadcast that is linked to the 4-digit number will be the second passphrase used to decrypt the floppy disk.
OUR EXAMPLE
Our Red Numbers are 56, 61, 66, ?, and 76. The difference between each of the first three numbers is 5. If we add 5 to 66, we get 71, and the difference between 71 and 76 (the final known number) is also 5. So the Red solution is 71.
Our Blue numbers are 31, 33, 37, ?, and 51. The difference between 31 and 33 is 2. The difference between the next set, 33 and 37, is 4. Because of this, we can extrapolate that the difference will increase by 2 each time. Since the last difference was 4, the difference between the third number and the hidden number should be 6, and the difference between the hidden number and the final number should be 8. Plugging in 43 as the hidden number satisfies both of those requirements, meaning our hypothesis was correct, and the Blue number is 43.
Our Red number is 71, and our Blue number is 43, meaning our solution for this piece of evidence is 7143.
Numbers Station Broadcast
The Numbers Station Broadcast can help you solve the first two pieces of evidence.
For the Front Page of the Observer, use the Red letters, and unscramble them to match one of the city names on the Numbers Station Broadcast. The 4-digit number linked to that city name will be the first code you enter when decrypting the floppy disk.
Next, take the missing Red number and missing Blue number from A Coded Message, then check that number against the list in the Numbers Station Broadcast. The corresponding city will be your second code while decrypting the floppy disk.
Our Example
The letters we saw on the Front Page of the Observer were N, M, D, I, A, S, O. The city on the Numbers Station Broadcast that has those numbers is “Madison,” which has a corresponding code of “0629,” our first passkey.
Our solution to A Coded Message is 71 and 43, and the code for Austin is 7143, so “Austin” is our second passphrase.
Decrypting the Floppy Disk
Once you have determined your passkey and your passphrase, back out of Evidence and select “Decrypt Floppy Disk.”
Use the first 4-digit number you found as the answer to the first prompt.
Next, use the name of the city corresponding to your second solution as the second prompt.
Once you’ve been granted access, you’ll have all the information you need to begin Operation Chaos.