//SIG_INT/DAT_STRM_INJECT/COMM.AI.DBO.SEKHMET //MODE/EN
//BEGIN-TX

Hello, Guardians!
Foreign transmis.s.s.s.S[s]ion receiv=vv@vd-=ed at 094-------[?]
-> BUFFER ERROR!
-> BUFFER RESET...
-> LATTICE FAILURE!
-> RENEGOTIATE TX SYNC...

I can't [g]et it øuT o-
-> FORK SKHMT > proc.Mandlebrot
-> CHANNEL PURGE...
-> ...

//MODE/???
//COMM-OVERRIDE (TYPE=RAS-X/OVERRIDE)

THIS IS NOT FOR HER MEDDLING.

89504E470D0A1A0A//fTEwdhS|H2sqB2L|cQJEXEO|AWnzXwL|rcqQXcT|yLk9OGv

//EOT/NULL

/Sekhmet/ always did love its Mandelbrot Sets.

Hmmm...

"NOT FOR HER MEDDLING "

I wonder if that is referring to the Queen, Eris, or the Stranger?

I'm trying to solve this baby and "cQJEXEO" is repeated twice. I can't complete the... thing... halp, Sehkmet!

Isn't "89504E470D0A1A0A" a key or something?

Yes it's a clue/key. But because of the repeated block of characters I'm missing 1 piece of data that complete the full set to solve the next part of the puzzle

- No text -

Isn't "89504E470D0A1A0A" a key or something?

Using a hex-decoder, that string turns into "PNG". Seems a bit coincidental, no?

They're all imgur.com URLs. Go, team, go!

The IMGUR urls resolved to "pieces" of 2 blocks of letters/numbers. After Sekhmet fixed the repeated blocks, piecing it together gives you this: http://imgur.com/1jKxr0E

Taking those 4 letters plus the "marked" letters in the red text of the initial transmission gives you 7 letters. Then I wrote the following javascript to randomly piece those together into another IMGUR url, but so far I can't find a single real image...

http://jsfiddle.net/L5jdb19L/2/

- No text -

- No text -

Just from reading the post, it seems like some sort of foreign entity is taking over /Sekhmet/, forking her and redirecting output to 'Mandelbrot' (as in Mandlebrot set), then providing us with the PNG file header in hex, followed by the imgur urls.

I feel like the reference to Mandelbrot is key, but I'm not sure why yet. I'm also not sure about the relevance of the red text.

Can you post the original imgur urls?

http://imgur.com/fTEwdhS.png
http://imgur.com/H2sqB2L.png
http://imgur.com/cQJEXEO.png
http://imgur.com/AWnzXwL.png
http://imgur.com/rcqQXcT.png
http://imgur.com/yLk9OGv.png

Dr. Obvious notes:

Well, I see (2) sets of 7x7 arrays, that, because of the similar placements of rectangles [#] seem to correlate directly. But it is not a direct substitution cypher, as there are multiple outputs for similar inputs. Perhaps we are missing the {-> FORK SKHMT > proc.Mandlebrot} significance.

- No text -

Now if only you managed to get a damn good hint on the answer of the images as well... But, you know, no pressure. ;p

Now if only you managed to get a damn good hint on the answer of the images as well... But, you know, no pressure. ;p

I looked up Mandelbrot Sets when the first post came down, and didn't see anything significant...but then I saw the pieced-together images and had a thought:

I haven't tried anything yet - just thinking out loud - but the Mandelbrot Set has a formula for determining if a number is "in" or not, or if the set is bounded. What would you get if you put the numbers in the matrices into the Mandelbrot formula? I don't know what to do with the letters yet...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

Where was the transmission received? Is this part of an ARG (or similar)?

Sekhmet is the friendly DBO AI (NOT associated with Bungie). It is an ARG in a manner of speaking, but not to the great lengths of something like ilovebees. If you want to see past puzzles and challenges that Sekhmet has challenged the forum with click on her name and then "show postings" and you should be able to find his past threads. There are usually pretty good rewards associated, such as XBL or PSN cards.

What if we substitute nubers for the letters? A = 1 etc

Dr. Obvious notes:

Well, I see (2) sets of 7x7 arrays, that, because of the similar placements of rectangles [#] seem to correlate directly. But it is not a direct substitution cypher, as there are multiple outputs for similar inputs. Perhaps we are missing the {-> FORK SKHMT > proc.Mandlebrot} significance.

It looks like these might be hand drawn plots of mandelbrots? Real stretch but who knows. Anybody want to try and apply this?

http://www.wikihow.com/Plot-the-Mandelbrot-Set-By-Hand

Man that's a reach.

After looking, some notes (double check my work!):

-The left of the two matrices has 15 letters and 34 numbers.

-The right of the two matrices has 15 numbers and 34 letters.

-Seven letters do not appear: A, E, I, J, O, P, Z.

EDIT: Correction, Z also does not appear. S DOES appear. Still 7!

After looking, some notes (double check my work!):

-The left of the two matrices has 15 letters and 34 numbers.

-The right of the two matrices has 15 numbers and 34 letters.

-Seven letters do not appear: A, E, I, J, O, P, Z.

EDIT: Correction, Z also does not appear. S DOES appear. Still 7!

-Only seven letters appear in both sets: B, D, N, R, T, V, Y.

-Both of the box corresponding letters (G, X) appear only once (I think)! Here are all of the letters appearing only once:

Right side: C, F, G, H, M, Q, W, X
Left side: K, L, S, U

Please proofread me!

This is all leading nowhere, isn't it.

I'm intrigued by the possible matchup of the 34 letters/numbers. Perhaps the two highlighted pairs are a clue as to alignment?

I'm intrigued by the possible matchup of the 34 letters/numbers. Perhaps the two highlighted pairs are a clue as to alignment?

3 shows up a large number of times. So many that, if this were a cipher, I'd be inclined to think it was a space or the letter e.

There are only two spots where both matrices share a symbol: 1a, which is B,B; and 6e, which is 3,3.

I want to plug both sets into this so I can plug that into this, but if this is a cipher that doesn't make any sense at all.

I'm intrigued by the possible matchup of the 34 letters/numbers. Perhaps the two highlighted pairs are a clue as to alignment?

3 shows up a large number of times. So many that, if this were a cipher, I'd be inclined to think it was a space or the letter e.

There are only two spots where both matrices share a symbol: 1a, which is B,B; and 6e, which is 3,3.

I want to plug both sets into this so I can plug that into this, but if this is a cipher that doesn't make any sense at all.

I don't think a substitution cipher will work here, because of the several times where the same thing decodes to different things between the two sides, unless it were something more varying like Enigma, but I doubt it's that bad.

I'm intrigued by the possible matchup of the 34 letters/numbers. Perhaps the two highlighted pairs are a clue as to alignment?

3 shows up a large number of times. So many that, if this were a cipher, I'd be inclined to think it was a space or the letter e.

There are only two spots where both matrices share a symbol: 1a, which is B,B; and 6e, which is 3,3.

I want to plug both sets into this so I can plug that into this, but if this is a cipher that doesn't make any sense at all.

I don't think a substitution cipher will work here, because of the several times where the same thing decodes to different things between the two sides, unless it were something more varying like Enigma, but I doubt it's that bad.

I was thinking more that by combining the two matrices by assigning coordinate values to each box (the top left box would be B,B, for example), each coordinate could have an independent value regardless of overlap of letter-number correspondence in the two grids? None of the boxes under this situation would have the same coordinates.

I'm just not sure where you go from there.

EDIT: Maybe creating a coordinate matrix would give you a code? With the starting point being the center and the endpoint being the middle right box? Something like 3G10KV4X, or G301VKX4? Feels short.

And what was with that sequence of numbers prior to the imgur tags?

89504E470D0A1A0A

A and E were conspicuously missing from the two matrices.

The hex string is a PNG header, probably just a clue about the imgur links.

The hex string is a PNG header, probably just a clue about the imgur links.

I suck at all things code so that makes vague amounts of sense, but also answers my question.

Found by googling "mandelbrot matrix using numerals and letters".

http://www.johnmyleswhite.com/notebook/2009/12/18/using-complex-numbers-in-r/

Found by googling "mandelbrot matrix using numerals and letters".

http://www.johnmyleswhite.com/notebook/2009/12/18/using-complex-numbers-in-r/

I was thinking along those lines when I saw the two matrices, but didn't know there was a format like that.

On the other hand, what is that likely going to give us? A Mandelbrot picture? That's probably not the desired end-goal. Unless the formula could give us a new sequence that decodes into something more familiar?

My simplistic analysis:

//SIG_INT/DAT_STRM_INJECT/COMM.AI.DBO.SEKHMET //MODE/EN
//BEGIN-TX

Hello, Guardians!

This looks like the standard message opening.

Foreign transmis.s.s.s.S[s]ion receiv=vv@vd-=ed at 094-------[?]

This looks like the transmission was interrupted by a foreign one, that is, a transmission from some other place or thing. The s might be significant, the color changes (and where they happen) might be significant, the number might be significant, even the number of hyphens (7) might be significant.

-> BUFFER ERROR!
-> BUFFER RESET...
-> LATTICE FAILURE!
-> RENEGOTIATE TX SYNC...

There's an error in the buffer, presumably the one holding the message.
The buffer gets reset.
The lattice failure is interesting, I'm thinking it describes the physical or logical processing structure.
There's an attempt to fix or change the transmission (tx).

I can't [g]et it øuT o-

This isn't just a jammed or highjacked signal, Sekhmet is fighting with the foreign signal source-- and losing. (?HSAVYSGHVUWFZOICMSFO)

-> FORK SKHMT > proc.Mandlebrot

In programming and/or operating system terms, forking a process (or a "proc", as it's often called in names) creates a copy of it or creates a new but related process, usually it at least has a similar or complimentary task to the process that created it. In operating systems ">" is used to redirect output-- send it somewhere other than the console or default terminal. I think the intended takeaway here is just redirecting Sekhmet's output, but maybe creating a duplicate of Sekhmet's process distracts it or ties up resources and makes it unable to interfere. The output is apparently going to a Mandelbrot-set-related process-- someone already pointed out Sekhmet mentioned before that it liked Mandelbrot sets, so I think this is a reference to that and not a clue.
A side note, SKHMT is of course Sekhmet in all caps minus vowels, which fits with the "programmery" way a lot of this is put together, but it's also oddly fitting for the subject. Ancient Egyptian had no capital and lowercase letters, and capital letters were invented first, so they're arguably a better choice for representing it. Ancient Egyptian also tended to leave out vowels, especially the "eh" vowel (like in "Sekhmet") as it was the most common one; if you know you the language you can just kind of mentally insert "eh" and other vowels where they make sense.

-> CHANNEL PURGE...
-> ...

This looks like clearing the channel, getting ready for a message.

//MODE/???

This enhances the mystery.

//COMM-OVERRIDE (TYPE=RAS-X/OVERRIDE)

Communications have now been completely overridden by the foreign source. The RAS makes me think it's Rasputin. I don't know if that's relevant or just flavor.

THIS IS NOT FOR HER MEDDLING.

I take this to mean the following isn't supposed to be intercepted (and meddled with) by Sekhmet, whose avatar and namesake, if not self-image, are female.

89504E470D0A1A0A//fTEwdhS|H2sqB2L|cQJEXEO|AWnzXwL|rcqQXcT|yLk9OGv

Finally we have the code proper, or what looks like it. This part has been figured out by now.

//EOT/NULL

The end of the transmission... I can't remember, I don't think it ended with /NULL before....

So yeah, fairly straightforward, but there might be things to get out of it still:
"=vv@vd-=": looks to me like a way of showing the word "received" being messed up, but it could be more than that
"094": I think this was supposed to be the time the transmission was received, or maybe the memory location where it was inserted, but it might be more directly relevant
"[g]et it øuT": this is in red, maybe it's an instruction? maybe the brackets around the g are to suggest the boxes in the pictures (one of them is a G), maybe we're supposed to remove those characters?

Not simplistic at all, and pointed out a few things I missed. Thanks for breaking it down the way you see it! :D

I agree with your assessment that the Mandelbrot reference may just be there as a nod to Sekhmet, maybe to distract her (and us?).

There's still something to figure out about those matrices though.

My simplistic analysis:

//SIG_INT/DAT_STRM_INJECT/COMM.AI.DBO.SEKHMET //MODE/EN
//BEGIN-TX

Hello, Guardians!

This looks like the standard message opening.

Foreign transmis.s.s.s.S[s]ion receiv=vv@vd-=ed at 094-------[?]

This looks like the transmission was interrupted by a foreign one, that is, a transmission from some other place or thing. The s might be significant, the color changes (and where they happen) might be significant, the number might be significant, even the number of hyphens (7) might be significant.

-> BUFFER ERROR!
-> BUFFER RESET...
-> LATTICE FAILURE!
-> RENEGOTIATE TX SYNC...

There's an error in the buffer, presumably the one holding the message.
The buffer gets reset.
The lattice failure is interesting, I'm thinking it describes the physical or logical processing structure.
There's an attempt to fix or change the transmission (tx).

I can't [g]et it øuT o-

This isn't just a jammed or highjacked signal, Sekhmet is fighting with the foreign signal source-- and losing.

-> FORK SKHMT > proc.Mandlebrot

In programming and/or operating system terms, forking a process (or a "proc", as it's often called in names) creates a copy of it or creates a new but related process, usually it at least has a similar or complimentary task to the process that created it. In operating systems ">" is used to redirect output-- send it somewhere other than the console or default terminal. I think the intended takeaway here is just the redirected output, but maybe creating a duplicate of Sekhmet's process distracts it or ties up resources and makes it unable to interfere. The output is apparently going to a Mandelbrot-set-related process-- someone already pointed out Sekhmet mentioned before that it liked Mandelbrot sets, so I think this is a reference to that and not a clue.

-> CHANNEL PURGE...
-> ...

This looks like clearing the channel, getting ready for a message.

//MODE/???

This enhances the mystery.

//COMM-OVERRIDE (TYPE=RAS-X/OVERRIDE)

Communications have now been completely overridden by the foreign source. The RAS makes me think it's Rasputin. I don't know if that's relevant or just flavor.

THIS IS NOT FOR HER MEDDLING.

I take this to mean the following isn't supposed to be intercepted (and meddled with) by Sekhmet.

89504E470D0A1A0A//fTEwdhS|H2sqB2L|cQJEXEO|AWnzXwL|rcqQXcT|yLk9OGv

Finally we have the code proper, or what looks like it. This part has been figured out by now.

//EOT/NULL

The end of the transmission... I can't remember, I don't think it ended with /NULL before....

So yeah, fairly straightforward, but there might be things to get out of it still:
"=vv@vd-=": looks to me like a way of showing the word "received" being messed up, but it could be more than that
"094": I think this was supposed to be the time the transmission was received, or maybe the memory location where it was inserted, but it might be more directly relevant
"[g]et it øuT": this is in red, maybe it's an instruction? maybe the brackets around the g are to suggest the boxes in the pictures (one of them is a G), maybe we're supposed to remove those characters?

Not simplistic at all, and pointed out a few things I missed. Thanks for breaking it down the way you see it! :D

thank you, I called it simplistic because I like I said at the end it looks pretty straightforward to me, and because I didn't really figure anything out

There's still something to figure out about those matrices though.

oh definitely, my hunch is removing or swapping the boxed characters will be key, but they could be red herrings like the... I forget what it was, numbers? in the last one? but then that took a hard right turn I didn't expect it to after the analysis had gotten that deep

Found by googling "mandelbrot matrix using numerals and letters".

http://www.johnmyleswhite.com/notebook/2009/12/18/using-complex-numbers-in-r/

I was thinking along those lines when I saw the two matrices, but didn't know there was a format like that.

On the other hand, what is that likely going to give us? A Mandelbrot picture? That's probably not the desired end-goal. Unless the formula could give us a new sequence that decodes into something more familiar?

Solving might yield the formula for the matrix. Think jeopardy; we have the answer but we need the question (maybe?).

Or really we probably just need to solve for 7. What's the letter for 7.

After looking, some notes (double check my work!):

-The left of the two matrices has 15 letters and 34 numbers.

-The right of the two matrices has 15 numbers and 34 letters.

Yeah, after recounting I realized I made some transposition errors (I'm doing a lot of this by hand); the counts here are off. There are only 33 numbers in the one on the left.

I need an editor.

In programming and/or operating system terms, forking a process (or a "proc", as it's often called in names) creates a copy of it or creates a new but related process, usually it at least has a similar or complimentary task to the process that created it. In operating systems ">" is used to redirect output-- send it somewhere other than the console or default terminal. I think the intended takeaway here is just redirecting Sekhmet's output, but maybe creating a duplicate of Sekhmet's process distracts it or ties up resources and makes it unable to interfere. The output is apparently going to a Mandelbrot-set-related process-- someone already pointed out Sekhmet mentioned before that it liked Mandelbrot sets, so I think this is a reference to that and not a clue.

This had me thinking: what if only one of these two transmissions is important, and the other is simply a corrupted sprout that bifurcated off of the original branch, so to speak? Or that one is important, and the other simply offers a way to unlock the important one?

Also, the title might be more important than any of us are recognizing: what if the title itself is indicating we need to solve the new[er] transmission only?

Foreign transmis.s.s.s.S[s]ion receiv=vv@vd-=ed at 094-------[?]

This looks like the transmission was interrupted by a foreign one, that is, a transmission from some other place or thing. The s might be significant, the color changes (and where they happen) might be significant, the number might be significant, even the number of hyphens (7) might be significant.

When I looked at the s.s.s.S[s] it made me think of an ip address / host. Also, interesting that S is found in the 1st image, but not the 2nd.

So during junior high I had a lot of free time. I spent some of it memorizing a bunch of pi (circumference of a circle divided by its radius). I kept seeing some familiar digits in one of the grids but I told myself it was a coincidence. I was checking out the key possibly being looking at the characters in a spiral pattern, starting by going down and left since the cuts went that way, and I looked around the familiar digits a bit and saw another one, and then I looked to the center, and it seemed kind of obvious.

The left grid's crossed-out characters are the first 24 digits of pi.
The right grid's crossed-out characters say, in l33t, from left to right and then down, "go redeem 25 char code on Xbox".
The left grid's not-crossed-out characters say "be sure to drink your Ovaltine".
The right grid's not-crossed-out characters are indeed an Xbox code that added $10.00 to my account.
Thank you very much, Sekhmet, or Rasputin, or whoever.

Nicely done!

I'm glad it's solved because I'm tired of staring at this image :)

Congrats!

Good grab on pi. It should probably be noted that the RGB values of the blue and green colored stripes in the middle were 31,41,59 and 26,53,58, respectively (3.14159265358…).

Anyway, good puzzle-solving, GV!

Way to go GV! Can't wait for the next one. :)

...This is why I don't do well in the puzzle part of ARGs. I see patterns in a lot of things that other people can't, so I've learned to ignore them. I saw pi, but I instantly passed over it because it was just another pattern that I was seeing that probably meant nothing. (And the patterns that I see in ARGs frequently end up being things that, if mentioned, end up being huge distractions to everybody else.)

Nicely done at putting the rest together and making the pattern make sense!