ARG:Phase 5 Summary
This page contains spoilers about the Heartbound ARG. If you want to solve the puzzle yourself, avoid reading this article.
This is the Chapter 5 of the ARG, it is called "Second Breakfast". The reason for this name is because originally there was a different path for the chapter after its first puzzle, but nobody had found it in almost 3 months. So the path got changed, and this was our "second chance" at the puzzle, hence the chapter name. The alternate path might be reused on a future puzzle, if it already wasn't.
The chapter begins with a hint that leads us to connect to a telnet host:
<!-- RING RING -->
<!-- TEL ME YOUR SECRETS -->
<!-- OSCAR -->
<!-- FACE -->
<!-- LOCATION -->
<!-- CHAPTER 6?? -->
The telnet host is gopiratesoftware.com at port 666. That connects to The Tower Corp's network and we talk with OScar.
Talking with OScar
The conversation goes like this:
Welcome to Tower Corp! Connection Established. Please Submit Password: password Oh, it's you... :/ Got something to say to me, Newhire? ._. Well?: sorry Well?: (any string containing sorry/forgive me) Yeah you are. :3 Now get off my network you jerk. >:[ Actually... :/ How about we play a game? :) I ask you questions, you tell me answers. :] Sound good, Newhire? :3 Would you like to play?: yes Would you like to play?: (any string containing y) Alright, good! :3 First question. Carrots for lost souls. Trinkets for the Faceless. Trapped in the machine. What is his name?: OScar No silly, his full name! :3
That gave us a couple of pieces of lore about OScar: (1) this isn't is full name, and (2) he is actually someone that was trapped in a machine. But now we were still left to find his full name.
The clue for it was scattered through Floor 0 of The Tower, which by itself is already a hidden location. That clue led us to the YouTube video on the right. The video description reads: Operant System Capture Assimilate Repurpose.
Then we talked to OScar again on telnet:
What is his name?: Operant System Capture Assimilate Repurpose Look closer. :3 What do you see?:
When we analyse the video, we notice some noise at the end. After plotting the spectrogram of the noise, we found that it is shaped like the text "Oscar T. Odinson". That is the full name of OScar.
The conversation continued, now with his full name:
What do you see?: Oscar T. Odinson Now you can see everything. :) I'm so sorry. :( 238 = 42
The last part was a hint to edit the save file, which would make the toast to appear on the toast of Lore's kitchen. Upon inspecting the toast a new file was created on the save folder (GLADYOUENJOYEDYOURTOAST.TXT), with the following text:
Memory Corrupted: Obtain new copy from OScar. T045T
Then we returned to telnet, and gave OScar the keyword T045T:
Connection Established. Welcome to Tower Corp! Please Submit Password: password Oh, it's you... :/ Got something to say to me, Newhire? ._. Well?: T045T Wait... what are you...? :# Archive accessed. o_o File is intact. o_o Backup file exported to drive under /OSCAR. o_o NO >:[ STAY OUT OF MY ARCHIVES D:< They're private... ._.;
That led us to the page https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/.
Meeting The Artifact
The page had these comments:
<!-- Chapter 5 - Second Breakfast -->
<!-- You're so close. -->
<!-- Backup Complete: File Transferred -->
After adding GLADYOUENJOYEDYOURTOAST.TXT to the URL, we got those words:
I'm proud of you.
You won't find my memories here. They are guarded... even from me. The key has such a funny name... What was it again?I'll be waiting at the gate. Near the lattice at the square. Bring a pound of hashbrowns. Memorize your best hexes. It's time for second breakfast.
That poem was a hint for OCTOTHORPE, the next page: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/. The page had these comments:
<!-- Every failure is a new path. -->
<!-- New pages to turn. -->
<!-- New chances to succeed. -->
<!-- Sometimes when you lose you win. -->
<!-- Don't you agree? -->
<div class="Do you really believe that...?">
<!-- Meet me at the hour of witches. -->
</div>
Those words seem to be from The Artifact, what he said was a hint to play the game and meet him at 3 AM (in-game time on Animus). He said the following:
So you've found the gate.
Are you ready for what comes next?
Build the key.
A new file was created on the game save folder: MeanGreen.thor. This file was decoded into an image file, a puzzle made of lettuce pictures. That image got decoded into this text:
Good, this operation is completed. Proceed to Lettuce Squares.
This was a hint for the next page: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/. The page had some comments that continued the conversation between Lore and The Artifact, that began on the previous page (though it is not completely clear who is saying what):
<!-- I do... -->
<!-- You're going to be ok. -->
<!-- You have us. -->
<!-- You have this place. -->
<!-- You're wrong. -->
<!-- You just keep telling me the same thing. -->
<!-- Exactly what I want to hear. -->
On the previous page had someone asking "Do you believe that?" in response to "Sometimes when you lose, you win". It is possible that Lore was the one to ask that question, since it was the artifact who began talking on that page, but that also could be a rhetorical question from The Artifact himself. However, it is more likely that The Artifact in the one asking the question, and Lore responding, since the answer was positive (The Artifact tends to be very negative). In this case, Lore seems to be trying to comfort The Artifact.
The LETTUCESQUARES page also had this puzzle:
<div class="Hard to starboard!">
<!-- Mind the table. -->
<!-- Don't fall off. -->
<!-- 3050UBF40U9E40U -->
<!-- BA40UD440U6F40U -->
<!-- 8340U9D40U4C40U -->
<!-- 3740U1940UC840U -->
</div>
When solved, the data decoded into ҌґѳӄәиӶэҫөӻԃ, possibly suggesting that whatever data we were looking for was corrupted (remember that this section of the ARG involved exporting OScar's memory). This was also the hint for the next page: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/ҌґѳӄәиӶэҫөӻԃ/.
Playing with time
The next few puzzles dealt with time in some form or another. The ҌґѳӄәиӶэҫөӻԃ page had this in its source:
<!-- Do you really believe that? -->
<div class="Yes">
<!-- Tick -->
</div>
<div class="No">
<!-- Tock -->
That was a continuation of the conversation between The Artifact and Lore. The same question as before was repeated, and there awere two different responses that could be given this time around. It seems that the responses break the timeline in two, since each one leaded to a different page: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/ҌґѳӄәиӶэҫөӻԃ/Tick/ and https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/ҌґѳӄәиӶэҫөӻԃ/Tock/.
The Tick page had the following on its source:
<!-- Time flows like a river... -->
<div class="and history repeats.">
<!-- What an epoch time that was. -->
<!-- 12:00:00 -->
</div>
</div>
That was a puzzle that led to the epoch timestamp of 744595200, which was one the key to solve the puzzle of the Tock page:
After being "unlocked" by the key, the glyphs decoded into the following text:
This isn't the first time. You've been here at my door. What is the name of the one before Lore?
The answer to this riddle was Jason Thor Hall (the designer, writer, and programmer of Heartbound). This led us to the next pages: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/ҌґѳӄәиӶэҫөӻԃ/Tick/JasonThorHall/ and https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/ҌґѳӄәиӶэҫөӻԃ/Tock/JasonThorHall/.
Both pages had the picture of a vinyl record. But the Tick page was called "Freeze", while the Tock one was called "Frame". Those were hints for "Record Scratch", which led us to the pages: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/ҌґѳӄәиӶэҫөӻԃ/Tick/JasonThorHall/RecordScratch/ and https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/ҌґѳӄәиӶэҫөӻԃ/Tock/JasonThorHall/RecordScratch/.
Both pages have the picture of Doctor Emmett Brown, from the Back To The Future movies. Again, each page has a different title: Tick is "In The Before Time", while Tock is "The Long Long Ago". Those hints told us that we are in a "bad future", and we needed to return back in time to prevent whatever went wrong.
What went wrong was the "broken record" (because if the record is "broken" then it cannot be "scratched"), so to "return to the past" we needed to delete the URLs until that point. That led us to the page: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/RecordScratch/.
Back to the past
The new Record Scratch page had the pictures of a viking and a rock, while the source code had a ciphered text: ZMBVMTWPZBXMGPOGWTCIGUJARNGG. The puzzle resulted in a clue that allowed to decipher the text, and we got: "That is not weakness, that is life", which is the second half of a quote from Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek. This led us to the page: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/RecordScratch/ThatIsNotAWeaknessThatIsLife/.
But that page wasn't the correct solution. It turned out that we needed the first half of the quote: "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose". That led us to the page https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/RecordScratch/ItIsPossibleToCommitNoMistakesAndStillLose/, which was the correct solution.
The page had a picture of a happy Jean-Luc Picard, with 4 smaller pictures bellow: Loki from The Avergers movie, a skeleton, Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars, a piece of cheese. The source code had this hint:
<!-- INPUT TheNumber.63150S1439555E -->
That hint led to an image file that told us "Not to fifty". The four smaller images together were a pun for "Fibonacci". So the solution was the first 49 digits of the Fibonacci series. This led us to the page: https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/OSCAR/OCTOTHORPE/LETTUCESQUARES/RecordScratch/ItIsPossibleToCommitNoMistakesAndStillLose/0112358132134558914423337761098715972584418167651/.
Returning to The Tower
The page had this on its source:
<!-- INPUT DENIED -->
<!-- ALTERNATE PASSCODE RECEPTACLE AVAILABLE -->
<!-- PROCEED WITH ALTERNATE PASSCODE SUBMISSION -->
<!-- 1998124494 -->
It seems that we are getting closer to OScar's memory. However the code that we entered (the first 49 digits of the Fibonacci series) was not accepted. We got instead a new code that needed to be submitted to an alternate receptacle.
The place were we needed to input the code was the keypad at The Tower, in-game. After inputting 1998124494 on the keypad, a new file (YOU.DOUBLE.FOOL) was created on the game's save folder. These were its contents:
01010110 01110011 01011001 01011000 01001001 Take a picture, it'll last longer.
Following the file's instruction, we went to the photographic camera on floor 2 of The Tower. We used the camera to take two pictures of Lore, which went to the game's save folder:
-
First picture
-
Second picture
Those image files had some data hidden within them:
- Tower_Picture_1.png:
01100001 01101101 00111001 00110001 01011000
- Tower_Picture_2.png:
00110011 01001010 01101100 01011010 00110011
Those 3 binary sets we got turned out to be a Base64 encoded string. It decoded into joe_regular, which is the name on a hidden room in the game. Then we edited the save file in order to access the in. There we meet Joe Regular, who said:
Hey, Newhire.
You know, you're really not
supposed to be here.
I get it though.
You want to know.
Life is like that sometimes.
Going places we shouldn't go.
Getting answers we don't want.
Just one endless search through the void.
What... you're still here?
Don't say I didn't warn ya.
Take this...
Don't tell him I sent ya.
00000000
The "him" that Joe talked about was OScar, and Joe also gave us the code 00000000 to be used with OScar. We needed to return to telnet in order to use this code.
Talking with OScar once more
The new telnet conversation with OScar went like this:
Connection Established. Welcome to Tower Corp! Please Submit Password: password Oh, it's you... :/ Got something to say to me, Newhire? ._. Well?: 00000000 Wait... what did you say to me...? ]:< ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS GRANTED o_o CORE DUMP AVAILABLE o_o Dump Core?: yes DUMPING CORE o_o DUMPING CORE. o_o DUMPING CORE.. o_o DUMPING CORE... o_o DUMPING CORE.... o_o DUMPING CORE..... o_o DUMPING CORE.... o_o DUMPING CORE... o_o DUMPING CORE.. o_o DUMPING CORE. o_o DUMPING CORE o_o CORE_DUMP COMPLETE o_o HOW DARE YOU!!! D:< GET OFF MY NETWORK!!! D:<
That code Joe gave us turned out to give administrative access to OScar, and we used it to dump the contents of OScar's core. We finally got the data we were looking for! The data is on https://www.gopiratesoftware.com/games/Heartbound/CORE_DUMP/, which is the beginning of Chapter 6.
That was the end of Chapter 5, which is the penultimate chapter of the Heartbound ARG. The next chapter is the final one, and it is going to be far more difficult than what we got until now. Let the puzzles begin! The first puzzle of Chapter 6 is Brain Drain.