ARG:Stopwatch

Stopwatch is the beginning of Chapter 7 of the ARG. It was achieved by solving Undoing, which was the last puzzle of Chapter 6. That puzzle had two solutions: RECYCLE and ADAPT.

The current puzzle is composed of two pages:

The first page is called "Tick", while the second is "Tock". The source code of each page also gives half of the chapter's name: "Stop" and "Watch".

Tick (RECYCLE)

The Tick page has the following on its source code:

<!-- Chapter 7 - Stop -->
<!-- Time is a funny friend. -->
<!-- It gives us new memories. -->

<!-- BMNGWZGHHJKOTYXUDIFSAZUOAFQVFVXJQBEPEABCSCDERGCLWRPKMDTLYNIT -->
<!-- SRQDEYTPMHFNQCGWCLVAXGPRBADSCVNEOUDOBKKBMWIIULFAJTZJHZYXGFEI -->
<!-- VNWKUTISAGBDCFGOVLYOJHFUEDLRSTABWMZXBAQDCQKEYRPIPHGECXMZNFJM -->
<!-- HQGSITETGFWRXBDXVVKOFJEHWAIGDEPLADZBUCLMSQFROZJUMYNPNKACCYBE -->
<!-- UNADXVAYPRCOBZEWMCAJGXQRNKJFSBZITGDLVELSTKMYOIFEQFPGUDCBHHWT -->
<!-- ZGHNPOQIATFNILUEFSTKQWVXHCJBOZDMUXCBWLRYKDABVRJEGACGSEPMFYDR -->
<!-- GYLUQEATMBODKQGFXKVJEPVDEWPCNRZZJBMIFFGWAIHBCCUYDTRXOSANLHSA -->
<!-- BIWRDIENHTYKOUADLTFRQMOEZVAUDXNMJGJPYGCEBSHXZQBFCLCPKSVGWFAV -->
<!-- LMFADNGBDBXQDEJTCMHSYUPPEFBZTRWGICVOGSOLHKAKCJIQUVAXFNERWYZE -->
<!-- BNUZDRLAPACHFEQTWRNLOBPEZDGFJCYCWKKIMYOAUSQJEGXIVSMFTBHDGXVL -->
<!-- XLENTFNYGHDTIRPUVFCXMMGQARASDZOAWUZVGJHSEWLCQBIKDOFBEKPBCJYE -->
<!-- WYRCBHLQPJBDOZQTGAVFCRIANYGOUKDEJAEWEVLNHBKFFPXXCDTSIMUZSGMR -->

<!-- 10:30 02:33 07:29 04:08 06:08 05:02 11:16 08:07 04:08 11:31 07:50 04:01 09:25 10:50 07:50 01:25 05:24 08:18 -->
<!-- 04:36 04:55 11:19 05:42 05:16 04:01 08:07 07:30 03:52 10:36 07:50 08:59 02:18 11:02 11:46 08:07 02:15 08:59 -->
<!-- 07:29 11:46 08:59 10:30 02:38 12:01 07:43 03:52 05:24 09:25 02:43 04:08 04:36 03:52 11:19 08:12 02:33 10:02 -->
<!-- 09:25 12:31 04:08 12:41 04:55 07:50 10:36 10:50 07:50 04:01 09:25 12:31 02:33 11:31 05:24 12:01 08:59 09:21 -->
<!-- 08:59 03:40 04:55 12:09 07:50 01:25 04:08 06:08 11:31 10:02 10:36 10:50 02:38 03:52 09:21 -->

The clues mention "time", the titles of the pages are "Tick" and "Tock", and the chapter's title is "Stopwatch". All of this suggest the theme of "clock". There are also some random letters, followed by numbers that look like times on a clock.

If we look closely at the random letters, we notice that there are 12 lines with 60 letters each. This also ties to the "clock" theme, because a clock can have 12 hours with 60 minutes each. So the times at our puzzle are telling us which letters we have to look for on the random letters.

Each line represents an hour (from 1 to 12), and each letter represents a minute (from 1 to 60). For example, 10:30 means "line 10, letter 30", which gives us the letter "C". And 02:33 is "line 2, letter 33), that is "O". If we do that for all the times, we get:

CONTINUETOTHESTARTBACKWHEREITALLBEGANBACKWHEREITBECKONEDTHATISTHEDOORWAYADAPTATIONISKEY

Which reads as:

Continue to the start. Back where it all began. Back where it beckoned. That is the doorway. Adaptation is key.

The text is telling us to return where everything started, where it "beckoned". This is the first page of the ARG, which was called The Light Beckons. The key being "adaptation" means that we need to solve the ADAPT page, in order to get what to add to the URL of the ARG's first page.

Tock (ADAPT)

The Tock page has this on its source code:

<!-- Chapter 7 - Watch -->
<!-- Time is a funny friend. -->
<!-- It takes some memories away. -->

<!-- BBBBBBBAABAAAABBAABBBBBBBBAAAAABABBABBAAABABAAAAAB -->
<!-- BABBBABAABBBAAAABABABBBABBABBBABABBABAAABAABABBBAB -->
<!-- BABBBABAAABABBAAAABABBBABBAAAAABABABAABBBBABAAAAAB -->
<!-- BBBBBBBABABABABABABBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAABBAABAAAAAAAA -->
<!-- BBBBBABBBBBABABBBBABABABAAABAAAABABAAAAABABBABAAAA -->
<!-- BABBAABBBBABBAABABBABBBBBABBAABAABBBBAABABAABABBAA -->
<!-- AABABBBAABABAAABAABAAAABBBAAABAAAAABABBBABBAAAAAAB -->
<!-- BAAAAABABBAAABBAABAAAAAABBABABAABBBAABBAABBABAABBB -->
<!-- BABBBBBAABAABABBBBBBBBAABAAAAAAAABAAAAAAABAAABAAAB -->
<!-- BBBBBBBABABBBAAABABABBBBBBAAAAABAAAABAABABAAABAAAA -->
<!-- BABBBABABBBBAAAABBBBBAAAABABBBABABBBABBBBBBBBBAABB -->
<!-- BABBBABABAAAABBAAABBBABABBAAAAABABBBABBAAABBABBABA -->
<!-- BBBBBBBABBAABABBBAAAAABBB -->

The cipher in the page was deliberately written to look like the baconian, but that is a red herring, it is not how it should be interpreted. The ciphertext has 625 characters, which means that they can be arranged in a square grid of 25 by 25:

BBBBBBBAABAAAABBAABBBBBBB
BAAAAABABBABBAAABABAAAAAB
BABBBABAABBBAAAABABABBBAB
BABBBABABBABAAABAABABBBAB
BABBBABAAABABBAAAABABBBAB
BAAAAABABABAABBBBABAAAAAB
BBBBBBBABABABABABABBBBBBB
AAAAAAAAAAAABBAABAAAAAAAA
BBBBBABBBBBABABBBBABABABA
AABAAAABABAAAAABABBABAAAA
BABBAABBBBABBAABABBABBBBB
ABBAABAABBBBAABABAABABBAA
AABABBBAABABAAABAABAAAABB
BAAABAAAAABABBBABBAAAAAAB
BAAAAABABBAAABBAABAAAAAAB
BABABAABBBAABBAABBABAABBB
BABBBBBAABAABABBBBBBBBAAB
AAAAAAAABAAAAAAABAAABAAAB
BBBBBBBABABBBAAABABABBBBB
BAAAAABAAAABAABABAAABAAAA
BABBBABABBBBAAAABBBBBAAAA
BABBBABABBBABBBBBBBBBAABB
BABBBABABAAAABBAAABBBABAB
BAAAAABABBBABBAAABBABBABA
BBBBBBBABBAABABBBAAAAABBB

If you pay attention to the pattern, you might notice that it looks like a QR code, where B=black and A=white, like shown on the image. When scanned, it decodes into files/pictionary, that is a clue for the next page we need to look into.

If you pay attention to the source code of the ARG pages, you can see that files are stored in the assets subdirectory. So the page that we need to look into is: https://gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/CORE_DUMP/MEMORY_ALPHA/CRASH_LOG/BOOT_RECORD/DEEP_THOUGHT/2140425/U4042/HEAPCHK/U4043/RESISTOR_TWISTER/FINAL_MACHINE/MOONSIDE/ADAPT/assets/files/pictionary

Pictionary

That page downloads a compressed file called pictionary.zip. The ZIP file contains these four images:

stego.jpg
kujificha.png
NiceJob.png
OopsAll.png

The stego.jpg image contains the fossil of a stegosaurus (you can make a reverse image search or Google in order to find that out). But here it is a pun Steganography, which is a technique for hiding some data inside another data. The classic example is some text that forms a message when you pick its letters in some specific way, like the first letters of words or lines.

In the context of computer images, steganography hides data in parts of the image that the human eye should not notice, like very subtle variation of colors. There are quite a few tools out there for doing that, using a multitude of different techniques. We need to figure out which specific toll was used to hide the data in order to be able to retrieve it. The data should be hidden on the stegosaurus image, and the other images should contain clues on how to extract it.

The name of the kujificha.png image means "to hide" in Swahili, and the image itself represents a "hide" icon. If we combine that with the name of stego.jpg, we get steghide, that is the name of the tool we need to use. However, steghide require a password to extract the data hidden on stego.jpg. We need to figure out the password.

NiceJob.png is a photo of Indiana Jones. The file's name suggest that we should look at his job, that is "archaeologist". The OopsAll.png image contains a cap, and with its name it means "all caps", as in having all letters capitalized. From that, we can infer that our password should be ARCHAEOLOGIST (all capitalized).

The full command that we need to run with steghide in order to extract the data is:

steghide extract -sf stego.jpg -p ARCHAEOLOGIST

This extracts a file called meta.physical .

Metaphysical

The file contains the following, when opened on a text editor:

$$###$$#$#$#$#$$###$$$$#$$$$####$$$#$#$#$$#$$$#$$$$##$$$###$$$##$#$#$#$$$#$#$##$$$##$$####$$##$$##$#$#$$##$#$$$$#$##$##$$##$#$$###$$$$#$$$$$#$#$$$#$#$$$##$###$$#$$$$#####$$##$#$#$#$$###$$$##$#$$#$##$$###$$$####$$###$$#$#$#$#$$###$$$$#$$$$####$$#$##$#$#$$###$$$####$$###$$$##$#$#$#$$$#$#$##$$$##$$####$$##$$##$#$#$$##$#$$$$#$##$##$$##$#$$###$$$$#$$$$$#$#$$$#$#$$$##$###$$#$$$$#####$$##$#$#$$##$$$####$$###$$$####$$###$$#$#$#$#$$###$$$$#$$$$####$$#$$$###$$#$#$$$#$#$$$$###$$$##$#$#$#$$$#$#$##$$$##$$####$$##$$##$#$#$$##$#$$$$#$##$##$$##$$###$$$#$#$$$#$#$$$##$###$$#$$$$#####$$##$#$#$$$$###$$#$$$$#####$$$###$$$####$#$##$$$##$$##$$$##$#$#$$###$$$$#$$$$#$#$$$$###$$#$$$$#####$$$###$$$##$#$#$#$$$$###$$#$$$$#####$$$#$$$$#$$#$$#$#$$$$###$$#$$$$#####$#$$$$#$$$$$####$$####$$##$$##$$$####$##$$#$$$$$####$$##$$$#$##$$$###$$$#$#$$$#$#$$#$$$###$$####$$#$$$$#####$#$#$$#$#$##$$$#$##

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principle of things, like the origin and purpose of life itself. "Metaphysical" can also be synonym for "spiritual", and that is the clue that the file's name is giving. It refers to the Spirit DVD Code, which was written on a DVD attached to a planetary hover called Spirit, that arrived on Mars back in 2004.

The original code used | and -, while ours uses $ and # in place of those. This cipher is not an easy one, and even back in the day it took a while for people to figured out how to decode it.

It uses a variable amount of characters to represent a letter, the more common a letter is, the less characters it uses. The characters represent 0 and 1. In our case, # is 0, and $ is 1 (in the original code, they were - was 0 and | was 1). Each three characters represent an octal digit (0 to 7) written in binary (0 or 1).

If you want to get really technical, the cipher was based on Huffman coding, which is an algorithm for compressing data. It also revolves around representing data in the least amount of bits, using a variable length encoding. If you have ever zipped a file, the compressor probably used Huffman coding in some capacity.

Anyways, our ciphertext is equivalent to the following Spirit DCD Code (line breaks added for visibility):

||---||-|-|-|-||---||||-||||--
--|||-|-|-||-|||-||||--|||---|
||--|-|-|-|||-|-|--|||--||----
||--||--|-|-||--|-||||-|--|--|
|--|-||---||||-|||||-|-|||-|-|
||--|---||-||||-----||--|-|-|-
||---|||--|-||-|--||---|||----
||---||-|-|-|-||---||||-||||--
--||-|--|-|-||---|||----||---|
||--|-|-|-|||-|-|--|||--||----
||--||--|-|-||--|-||||-|--|--|
|--|-||---||||-|||||-|-|||-|-|
||--|---||-||||-----||--|-|-||
--|||----||---|||----||---||-|
-|-|-||---||||-||||----||-|||-
--||-|-|||-|-||||---|||--|-|-|
-|||-|-|--|||--||----||--||--|
-|-||--|-||||-|--|--||--||---|
||-|-|||-|-|||--|---||-||||---
--||--|-|-||||---||-||||-----|
||---|||----|-|--|||--||--|||-
-|-|-||---||||-||||-|-||||---|
|-||||-----|||---|||--|-|-|-||
||---||-||||-----|||-||||-||-|
|-|-||||---||-||||-----|-||||-
|||||----||----||--||--|||----
|--||-|||||----||--|||-|--|||-
--|||-|-|||-|-||-|||---||----|
|-||||-----|-|-||-|-|--|||-|--

Each letter is represented by one to three octal digits (three to nine binary digits, or "bits"). Since the letters are encoded in variable length, the way to know when one letter ends and another begins is that a valid sequence is never the beginning of another valid sequence. The most common letters in English are likely to be represented with a single digit, so one way to go to decipher it manually is to look for the most common sequences of 3 characters, and try replacing them by something like A, E, or O. Then work from there and try to form words using the unknown sequences.

In the end, this will be the table for decoding the Spirit DVD Code (0 means -, 1 means |):

Binary	Octal	Character
000	0	(space)
001	1	E
010	2	A
011	3	O
100	4	R
101 000	50	M
101 001	51	W
101 010	52	F
101 011	53	G
101 100	54	Y
101 101	55	P
101 110	56	B
101 111 000	570	V
101 111 001	571	K
101 111 010	572	J
101 111 011	573	X
101 111 100	574	Q
101 111 101	575	Z
110 000	60	T
110 001	61	I
110 010	62	N
110 011	63	H
110 100	64	D
110 101	65	L
110 110	66	C
110 111	67	U
111	7	S

There is also an online decoder, if you prefer. The above table was built built by studying the source code of this decoder.

Our ciphertext decodes decodes into the following:

IFYOURELOOKINGFORTHEANSWERYOUL
LNEVERFINDITIFYOUREWAITINGFORT
HEANSWERYOULLNEVERGETITIFYOURE
BEGGINGFORTHEANSWERILLNEVERGIV
EITWHENYOUGIVEINGIVEUPGIVEOUTT
HETRUTHWILLBEREVEALED

Adding spaces and punctuation for make it more readable:

If you're looking for the answer, you'll never find it. If you're waiting for the answer, you'll never get it. If you're begging for the answer, i'll never give it. When you give in, give up, give out; the truth will be revealed.

This sounds like The Artifact talking to us, "'the truth will be revealed'" is the key that the previous puzzle said we need.

Combining the solutions

When we solved the Tick (RECYCLE) puzzle, we got "'Continue to the start. Back where it all began. Back where it beckoned. That is the doorway. Adaptation is key'". The key we found from Tock (ADAPT) was "'the truth will be revealed'".

Tick also said to return to the start where it beckoned, which is a reference to the very first page of the ARG. That page is called The Light Beckons. That means we need to add the solution to that page, and the solution is "'the truth will be revealed'".

Back in the beginning of the ARG, the answers that needed to be added to the URL used PascalCase, instead of UPPERCASE. So we need to add the solution in the original format. This leads us to this page: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/TheLightBeckons/TheTruthWillBeRevealed

This leads us to the next puzzle: Clever Clever. If you prefer, you can also join our Discord server to discuss or wait the new developments.