Step By Step Puzzle (Be Sure to Drink Your Ovaltine)

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On Dec. 9, Tachyon alerted us to a busy week ahead:

To my "Brother" : 
Tonight and tomorrow, things shall come into focus.

Step 1: The UPC Puzzle

The next day, she updated her profile with this. Keep in mind what she says about following the steps:

One step at a time, before the next. I wouldn't want to confuse you. Figure out what you need and we'll go from there. 

Step 1: Always be prepared. 

MTogMzAzOTM1MzAzNDMxMzEzMzMxMz MzMTMwDQoyOiAzMzMyMzEzMjMxMzIz MjM5MzEzNTMyMzANCjM6IDM5MzczNj 
M3MzkzMTM2MzMzOTM2MzgzNw0KNDog MzMzOTMyMzAzNDMxMzEzMzMxMzMzMT MwDQo1OiAzODMyMzQzNTM4MzQzMzM0
MzAzNDM5MzcNCjY6IDM4MzUzMzMwMz AzMDMzMzQzNTM0MzIzMA0KNzogMzYz MjM2MzUzMTMzMzIzOTMxMzUzMjMwDQ 
o4OiAzNTMyMzMzMjMzMzEzMTM5MzMz NTM4MzANCjk6IDM2MzIzMTM1MzYzMz MyMzkzMTM1MzIzMA0KQTogMzQzMjM2
MzUzMDM3MzYzMTM2MzczMjMwDQpCOi AzMzMyMzYzMjM4MzIzMjM5MzMzNTM4 MzANCkM6IDMxMzIzNTMzMzgzNzM0Mz 
AzMDM0MzQzMA0KRDogMzgzNDM3MzUz NjM4MzYzMTM2MzczMjMwDQpFOiAzNT M3MzUzNjMyMzAzNjM5MzMzMzM0MzAN
CkY6IDMxMzczMjM4MzMzMDM2MzkzMz MzMzQzMA==

This is Base 64 and translates to:

1: 303935303431313331333130 
2: 333231323132323931353230 
3: 393736373931363339363837 
4: 333932303431313331333130 
5: 383234353834333430343937 
6: 383533303030333435343230 
7: 363236353133323931353230 
8: 353233323331313933353830 
9: 363231353633323931353230 
A: 343236353037363136373230 
B: 333236323832323933353830 
C: 313235333837343030343430 
D: 383437353638363136373230 
E: 353735363230363933333430 
F: 313732383330363933333430

This was recognized as hex, and when it was decoded, it took out the columns that consisted just of the number 3 to give us this:

1: 095041131310 
2: 321212291520 
3: 976791639687 
4: 392041131310 
5: 824584340497 
6: 853000345420 
7: 626513291520 
8: 523231193580 
9: 621563291520 
A: 426507616720 
B: 326282293580 
C: 125387400440 
D: 847568616720 
E: 575620693340 
F: 172830693340

These were identified as UPCs (Universal Product Codes) and a little research turned up the movies they belonged to:

1: 013131140590 Heathers (Special Edition) (1989) 
2: 025192212123 Back to the Future- Trilogy, Widescreen (1985) 2 (1989) 3 (1990) 
3: 786936197679 Swingers (Special Edition) (1996)
4: 013131140293 Hiding Out (1987)
5: 794043485428 House Party (1990) 
6: 024543000358 Fight Club: 2 Disc Special Edition (1999) 
7: 025192315626 Breakfast Club (1985) 
8: 085391132325 Risky Business (1983) 
9: 025192365126 Three O'Clock High (1987) 
A: 027616705624 WarGames (1983) 
B: 085392282623 Gremlins (Special Edition) (1984) 
C: 044004783521 The Game (1997) 
D: 027616865748 Sure Thing (Special Edition) (1985) 
E: 043396026575 Just One of the Guys (1985) 
F: 043396038271 Cruel Intentions (1999)

Step 2: The Movie Puzzle

Once we’d gotten this far, Tach added a list of movie situations to her profile (the list is decoded from Base 64 to hex to text, but I’m omitting the code here to cut down on the length), with this note:

Step 2: 
Finding the Order is simple. As long as you watch each one closely (and can spare the hours, of course).
With any luck you'll work past any 'identity' issues to make the necessary connections as well. See below for details.

At the very bottom of her profile, a code could be found which translated to:

l: Those damn cults.

m: Two words. Dick Gregory

n: He is such a badass. His voice naturally has that sonic echo underneath it when he yells. It  just takes a lot
out of him. o: Probably grounded? She looks so young for her age. p: This is late night decision making at its worst. q: No better way to start the day than gossiping about new students. r: Shortly after the final shotgun. s: Just after dawn, but before I'm lying. t: LD188A u: Going through changes, lots of changes. v: ‘Eddie’ gets the girl (eventually). w: He knows too? Just don't tell anyone. And don’t cause disruptions in biology, no matter how slow the class may
seem. x: The county recorder has no listing for Consumer Recreation Service or any derivation thereof. y: Talk about creating trends in geek culture. Not only the obvious, but also the geek rage manifestation of
punching doors. z: This last minute strategy makes sense as a failsafe, but why wouldn’t you give yourself an even better window
to work within?

What we had to do was watch the movies we had found in Step 1 in order to match them with the situations Tachyon described in the update above. There were no guides as to which movies went with which situations. After putting in many hours, we identified them as follows:
l: Those damn cults.
E: 043396026575 Just One of the Guys (1985)

m: Two words. Dick Gregory
5: 794043485428 House Party (1990)

n: He is such a badass. His voice naturally has that sonic echo underneath it when he yells. It just takes a lot out of him.
7: 025192315626 Breakfast Club (1985)

o: Probably grounded? She looks so young for her age.
F: 043396038271 Cruel Intentions (1999)

p: This is late night decision making at its worst.
3: 786936197679 Swingers (Special Edition) (1996)

q: No better way to start the day than gossiping about new students.
9: 025192365126 Three O'Clock High (1987)

r: Shortly after the final shotgun.
D: 027616865748 Sure Thing (Special Edition) (1985)

s: Just after dawn, but before I'm lying.
1: 013131140590 Heathers (Special Edition) (1989)

t: LD188A
6: 024543000358 Fight Club: 2 Disc Special Edition (1999)

u: Going through changes, lots of changes.
B: 085392282623 Gremlins (Special Edition) (1984)

v: ‘Eddie’ gets the girl (eventually).
4: 013131140293 Hiding Out (1987)

w: He knows too? Just don't tell anyone. And don’t cause disruptions in biology, no matter how slow the class may seem.
8: 085391132325 Risky Business (1983)

x: The county recorder has no listing for Consumer Recreation Service or any derivation thereof.
C: 044004783521 The Game (1997)

y: Talk about creating trends in geek culture. Not only the obvious, but also the geek rage manifestation of punching doors.
A: 027616705624 WarGames (1983)

z: This last minute strategy makes sense as a failsafe, but why wouldn’t you give yourself an even better window to work within?
2: 025192212123 Back to the Future- Trilogy

Solution:

At this point, we had matched all the movies with the situations, but we didn’t know what we were looking for in those particular scenes. A Dec. 11 Tach profile update helped us out:

If you've got the time, then you're much closer to putting a good face on it.

This told us to look at clocks, and sure enough, we found one in every scene. Looking at the times we found, we saw that if we “spared the hours” and put the movies in a certain order, the minutes would increase by increments of 4. Here is what that looks like:

:04 10:04 The Game C 
:08 2:08 Fight Club 6 
:12 5:12 Hiding Out 4 
:16 2:16 Cruel Intentions F 
:20 12:20 Gremlins B 
:24 1:24 Back to the Future 2 
:28 3:28 Risky Business 8 
:32 2:32 Swingers 3 
:36 3:36 Houseparty 5 
:40 Sure Thing (Specific time unknown) D 
:44 7:44 Breakfast Club 7 
:48 11:48 Wargames A 
:52 7:52 3o’ clock high 9 
:56 9:56 Heathers 1 
:60 :60 Just One of the Guys E

This led us to the combination:

C64FB2835D7A91E

This is what you get if you take the original numbers and letters from the Step 1 list of movies in the order determined by the times on the clocks.

Then, another code was added that translated to:

Match the quote/scene/sequence (in lowercase) to the movie (in UPPERCASE). Watch and compare the lowercase scene in
each UPPERCASE movie to find a pattern that will determine how you handle the UPPERCASE letters/numbers.

This clue told us that what we wanted to do was link Step 1 and Step 2, which meant that we needed to use not only the uppercase letter/number from the Step 1 movie list, but also the lowercase letter from the Step 2 list of situations. This gives us:

Cx6t4vFoBu2z8w3p5mDr7nAy9q1sEl

At this point, it was suggested that this might be a ring cipher, which contains letters placed in concentric rings. Coded letters correspond to letters in the same physical location on either the inner or outer rings. This is where the idea that we were building a decoder ring began.

Later that day, Tach updated her profile with this, letting us know that a drop was in the works:

To my "Brother" : 
I know there's a lot going on right now, important work towards a greater reward. 
If you can ask a friend or two to help, it makes sense to multitask at this point. I know you're overwhelmed, but I
have faith in you. So even though you're not finished with the step you've been working on, perhaps you'll be much closer to having it
completed by the time your friend(s) return from running an errand for you. Aren't you glad that you taught me the value of teamwork?

The drop happened. For more about it, go here: http://lonelygirl15.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3946

Step 3: The Tinyurl Puzzle

On Dec. 13, Tachyon was on to the next step:

I'm sure you've got your friends working on what was recovered. But it's one of those xx/xy things that some people
are good at, and other people just can't wrap their head around it. However, multitasking is necessary! So with step 2 completed, set those results aside for the moment while we move on to Step 3: Don't worry, there are
just a few tiny details below... MTogNzk3OTYyNmI3ODZlDQoyOiA3OT MzNzg2MTY0NzQNCjM6IDc5MzYzODdh NmY3Ng0KNDogNzkzNjcxNzg3NTcwDQ o1OiA3OTMzNzg2YzZlMzgNCjY6IDc5 MzU2YTM0Njc2Mg0KNzogNzM2NDdhNm QzNw0KODogNzkzMzM2NjczNTM5DQo5 OiA3OTM3NmE2MjMyNjcNCkE6IDc5Mz I3MDM3NjMzOQ0KQjogNzkzNDM1NmI3 NDc0DQpDOiA3NTc1NzQzNDcyDQpEOi A3OTM0MzI2ODZjNjINCkU6IDc5Nzk3 Mzc2NjU2NA0KRjogNzY2ZjZkNzk2MQ 0K

This decoded via Base 64 and hex, and finally it gave us a list:

1 : yybkxn 
2 : y3xadt 
3 : y68zov 
4 : y6qxup 
5 : y3xln8 
6 : y5j4gb 
7 : sdzm7 
8 : y36g59 
9 : y7jb2g 
a : y2p7c9 
b : y45ktt 
c : uut4r 
d : y42hlb 
e : yysved 
f : vomya

These were discovered to be tinyurl links:

1 : http://tinyurl.com/yybkxn
2 : http://tinyurl.com/y3xadt
3 : http://tinyurl.com/y68zov
4 : http://tinyurl.com/y6qxup
5 : http://tinyurl.com/y3xln8
6 : http://tinyurl.com/y5j4gb
7 : http://tinyurl.com/sdzm7
8 : http://tinyurl.com/y36g59
9 : http://tinyurl.com/y7jb2g
a : http://tinyurl.com/y2p7c9
b : http://tinyurl.com/y45ktt
c : http://tinyurl.com/uut4r
d : http://tinyurl.com/y42hlb
e : http://tinyurl.com/yysved
f : http://tinyurl.com/vomya

These turned out to be episodes from the radio show Loveline, most of which were quite long, and quite explicit. Tachyon moved us forward:

Download those and come up with a strategy to divide them. Step 4 is forthcoming.

XX/XY V.2

The "xx/xy thing" Tachyon was refering to was for obtaining the password for the .RAR file found on the SD Card found in Drop 6.
XX/XY Solution Thread
Petaluma Revisited Drop thread

Step 4: The Loveline Puzzle

Shortly thereafter, another profile update:

Step 4: 
 
Finding the Order is simple. As long as you *listen* to each one closely (and can spare the hours, of course).
With any luck you'll work past any 'identity' issues to make the necessary connections this time as well. See below for additional instructions.

These are the instructions (decoded from Base 64):

l: Those damn cults! I don't think the Order's engine is “driven by the same motor” though. Just to be sure,
I’ll check it out at a later point. m: Oh, so you're not tilting at windmills? It must be after that’s clarified, and fresh ideas are brainstormed…
follow along…the right time is clear when a break is finally needed due to the lack of even being able to finish
a sentence. n: I never have those kind of talks have with my "Brother" either. And while my profession is different, I keep
swearing that I'm going to quit my job in six months as well; that’s the point I’m getting at. o: Try not to get sidetracked by any talk of waffle—um, actually never mind that. Once one moves past suggestions of
singing showtunes, and reaches the point of pondering the barometer vs. yardstick, you’ll know you’re in the
right moment if the breaking point is near. p: Take it from me: You try to bust an international jewel thief AS an international jewel thief, you don't stand a
chance. You gotta look back though, to the point of asking, how can you NOT believe it? q: Sounds like a great party game, especially since I'm not ticklish. Good as you, indeed. r: Hearing it described this way, at least it's obvious at this point that I've got other options if this gig
doesn't work out. I'm well suited for it, but not so sure I'd dig the dress code. s: And I thought my childhood was messed up! After you've heard the details, you’ll know you are at the right spot
when one ponders what pain is. It’s before one could assume she may have locked her keys in...well, nevermind. t: After you take a minute or so to recover from the shock (and realize that this isn't bogus), recognize the point
that is quite profound, because this simple logic is accurate more often than not. Actions are defining. Action
means everything. u: After you knock on the door, all that matters is that the *notion* to follow it was a strong one. You really
can’t miss it, trust me. v: After you close your eyes to visualize, you must recognize that once you reach the point where you can do it
while being chased by a neighbor's dog, you really are that good! w: It's shortly before they numb you up to make you not feel things--The point where we can explain our rebellion,
due largely to being raised by a religious family. x: That description sounds kind of like my "Brother" LOL. That's the point I am getting at. Oh, and regarding their
theory, it's true that we always know on some level! But if you run into the movie being projected on the
perineum, you’ve gone too far! y: The street lights are on, it's time for the oldest son to bring his bicycle in. z: Forget everything that leads up to wondering where you are, the point of this minute is to prepare yourself for
what follows. After that, we can all be enlightened by one man's inquiries toward the "fountain" of knowledge.
And should you ever need an attorney...

Solution

We’d seen this kind of puzzle before, and got to work downloading the Loveline episodes and listening to them to match them up with situations, just as we had done with the movies in Step 2. We also matched them up with the time that the situation occurred in the clip. The results (first column is Loveline episode number/letter, second is situation letter, and last is the time the situation occurred):

f - t - 0:34:36 
4 - v - 0:38:30 
7 - p - 0:42:31 
9 - q - 0:46:40 
3 - l - 0:50:40 
b - w - 0:54:16 
8 - u - 0:58:48 
c - r - 1:02:00 
2 - x - 1:06:02 
d - o - 1:10:16 
6 - n - 1:14:00 
1 - z - 1:18:00 
a - s - 1:22:17 
5 - y - 1:26:32 
e - m - 1:30:09

When you "spare the hours," the list changes:

c - r - 0:02:00 
2 - x - 0:06:02 
d - o - 0:10:16 
6 - n - 0:14:00 
1 - z - 0:18:00 
a - s - 0:22:17 
5 - y - 0:26:32 
e - m - 0:30:09
f - t - 0:34:36 
4 - v - 0:38:30 
7 - p - 0:42:31 
9 - q - 0:46:40 
3 - l - 0:50:40 
b - w - 0:54:16 
8 - u - 0:58:48 

When put together the same way we had done with the movie clips, we got this:

Cr2xDo6n1zAs5yEmFt4v7p9q3lBw8u

Decoder Ring

With the solutions from steps 2 and 4, we began putting together a decoder ring:
DecoderRing.jpg

Step 5: The Tiny Project Puzzle

On Dec. 14, Tachyon’s profile changed to read this:

To my "Brother" : 

Step 5: A tiny project. 

MzczMTMzMzYzNjYxMzczMzMzMzgzNz M5

This decoded via Base 64 and hex to read:

q6js8y

Which, when reversed, is another tinyurl:
http://tinyurl.com/y8sj6q
This brought us to this image:
PicX.jpg


This picture has been identified as being a brad.



About an hour later, Tachyon added this to her profile:

[ a tiny hint: jx62t ]

Once again, when reversed, this was a tinyurl:
http://tinyurl.com/t26xj
This brought us to this image:
PicXX.jpg


The second photo was eventually identified as the handle of a pair of scissors, and a very small ruler was discovered along the top of the picture. Language lessons is a photobucket account name.

Step 6: The Small Test Puzzle

A new YT profile update on Dec. 14 read:

To my "Brother" : 

Hope you're figuring it all out. I am en route to my next location. So in the meantime... 

Step 6: A small test. 

(see below)

Under Favorite Music was the usual code, which decoded via Base 64->hex->ASCII to:

I/II [E] 0/0 
X: 6B36676B38B2B2E03EE03AE033 
Y: A respectable score (or the room where the players dwell)

The Y: part of the message was interpreted as follows:
A respectable score was a reference to Tach's bowling score from the "Knock 'Em Down" video=112. Putting this together we get "Room 112 where the players dwell," which is a line from a Puff Daddy song, "Only You.",br>

After examining the message further, the most popular theory was that the X: line was a message decoded, and that the other lines were instructions on how to decode it using the decoder rings.

We got another hint from Tachyon's YT profile:

[ a small hint: X decoded by Y = Z ]

The correct decoder rings used only the uppercase letter sets from the Movie and Loveline puzzles. The outer ring of the decoder was this set:

C64FB2835D7A91E

The inner ring was this set:

C2D61A5EF4793B8

Another clue was given by Tachyon:

[ is Doug Ramsey around? what about Warlock? ]

Doug Ramsey was a character named Cypher.

Solution

Using the [E] and 112 hints, we found this pattern. For the first two characters, we matched the outer ring E with the inner ring 1. For the third character, we matched the outer ring E with the inner ring 2. By repeating this 1-1-2 pattern throughout the puzzle, we found this (decoded from hex):

TESTING 1 2 3

Thank you

Special thanks goes out to Tiltingwindward for creating the recap thread and to those of you who made the puzzle threads and kept them updated. Also, thanks to everyone who slaved over watching the movies and listening to Loveline for many hours!