In March 2021, a series of ciphers started appearing in various Cyan communications. Most of them are "ciphers" in the traditional sense: strings of symbols using commonly known cipher algorithms to encode secret messages. Some of the ciphers encode nested ciphers alongside other plain text.
A great deal of discussion about the early ciphers was scattered among various channels in Cyan Chat. On April 7, mods created a dedicated #cipher-discussions channel for talking about Cyan's current and past ARGs. And on May 3, Cyantist Stone posted a spoiler-tagged message in that channel strongly encouraging the fans to document the campaign on a wiki.
Hello. Is there anybody out there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home? - dallas
I mean what they and their hired psychiatrists call delusional systems. Needless to say, ‘delusions’ are always officially defined. We do not have to worry about questions of real or unreal. They only talk out of expediency. It’s the system that matters. How the data arrange themselves inside it. Some are consistent, others fall apart.
I'll send an SOS to the world, I hope that someone gets my, message in a bottle. /// I must remain (silent | hidden | unfound) / (them | you | we | us) make contact / (yesterday | soon | now)
Such in outline is the official theory. I shall often speak of it, with deliberate abusiveness, as “the dogma of the ghost in the machine.” I hope to prove that it is entirely false, and false not in detail but in principle. It is not merely an assemblage of particular mistakes. It is one big mistake and a mistake of a special kind. It is, namely, a category mistake. /// Please Make (Meeting | Connection | Meeting) / (Attend | Listen | Get | Hear) / Can (They | Them | All | You) Hear Me
We all act because we’re sure of what we want, and we believe that the actions we perform will get us what we want, but we never know anything for sure, and so all our rationales are invented to justify what we were going to do anyway before we thought of any reasons.
I MEAN WHAT THEY AND THEIR HIRED PSYCHIATRISTS CALL DELUSIONAL SYSTEMS NEEDLESS TO SAY DELUSIONS ARE
ALWAYS OFFICIALLY DEFINED WE DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT QUESTIONS OF REAL OR UNREAL THEY ONLY TALK
OUT OF EXPEDIENCY ITS THE SYSTEM THAT MATTERS HOW THE DATA ARRANGE THEMSELVES INSIDE IT SOME ARE
CONSISTENT OTHERS FALL APART
I mean what they and their hired psychiatrists call delusional systems. Needless to say, ‘delusions’ are always officially defined. We do not have to worry about questions of real or unreal. They only talk out of expediency. It’s the system that matters. How the data arrange themselves inside it. Some are consistent, others fall apart.
Cipher 5 - April 15, 2021
Where Found:
A brief example of design iteration for Firmament - YouTube Video
5A) BAB AA ABA A C ABB AA BAAA AAB BAA AABA C A ABA BBB B C A ABA BBB B C ABAA BBB AABA BBB C
AABA AA B ABA A AAAB C BB BA AAB BA C AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C ABA BA BAAA AA C ABAA BBB
AABA BBB C A BAAA ABB AB BBAB C AAB ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C BB AABA A AAAA AABA AA BBA C
AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C AAB ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C BB BA AAB BA C A ABA BBB B C BAB AA ABA A C BABBAB C AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C ABAA BBB AABA BBB C AAB AA BAAA BA AAB C BAB AA ABA A
C A BAAA ABB AB BBAB C ABAA BBB AABA BBB C ABAA AABA BBB AAB BAA ABA C ABBAB C BAB AA
ABA A C BAAA BA B AAA BAA ABB C BB BA AAB BA C AAB ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C AAB ABA BAA ABB
AA AAA C BAB AA ABA A C AB AA B ABA BA BB
5B) A BAAA ABB AB BBAB C AB AA B ABA BA BB C AAB ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C A ABA BBB B C BAB AA ABA
A C BAAA BA B AAA BAA ABB C ABA BA AAA A BA ABAB C BAB AA ABA A C A ABA BBB B C BB BA AAB
BA C ABA BA AAA A BA ABAB C A AABA AABA BA BAB C A ABA BBB B C ABAA BBB AABA BBB C BB BA
AAB BA C AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C AB AA B ABA BA BB C BAB AA ABA A C AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C
ABAA BBB AABA BBB C BAB AA ABA A C AB AA B ABA BA BB C ABAA BBB AABA BBB C AAB ABA BAA
ABB AA AAA C A ABA BBB B C BB BA AAB BA C A ABB AABA A AAAA C A ABA BBB B C BAB AA ABA A C
BAB AA ABA A C AB BA AAAB ABA BAA C BB AABA A AAAA AABA AA BBA C AB AA B ABA BA BB C A ABB
AABA A AAAA C AAB ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C AB BA AAAB ABA BAA C A BAAA ABB AB BBAB C A ABA
BBB B C BABBAB C ABAA BBB AABA BBB C ABBAB C BAB AA ABA A C ABA A B B A ABBA C ABAA BBB
AABA BBB C A ABB AABA A AAAA C ABA BA BAAA AA
5C) ABBA AA AABA AA ABAA C AAB AA BAAA BA AAB C ABB AA BAAA AAB BAA AABA C BABBAB C ABAA
BBB AABA BBB C AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C AAB AA BAAA BA AAB C ABA BA BAAA AA C BAB AA ABA A
C ABA BA BAAA AA C AAB AA BAAA BA AAB C AB BA AAAB ABA BAA C AB BA AAAB ABA BAA C BAB AA
ABA A C A ABB AABA A AAAA C AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C AAB ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C AAA BA AABA
BAB AA AB C AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C A ABA BBB B C ABBAB C AAB AA BAAA BA AAB C ABB AA
BAAA AAB BAA AABA C ABAA AABA BBB AAB BAA ABA C ABAA BBA AABA BBB C BA AABA A AAAA AABA
AA BBA C BAB AA ABA A C A ABB AABA A AAAA C A ABA BBB B C ABAA BBB AABA BBB C A ABA BBB B C
ABA BA BAAA AA C AAB ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C BB BA AAB BA C A ABA
BBB B C AB BA AAAB ABA BAA C AB AA B ABA BA BB C ABAA AABA BBB AAB BAA ABA C AB AA B ABA
BA BB C BAB AA ABA A C ABA BA BAAA AA C AAB ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C ABAA BBB AABA BBB C AAB
ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C AAA BA AABA BAB AA AB C BB BA AAB BA C AAB AA BAAA BA AAB C AAA BA
AABA BAB AA AB C BAB AA ABA A C AAB ABA BAA ABB AA AAA C ABB AA BAAA AAB BAA AABA C ABB
AA BAAA AAB BAA AABA C ABA BA BAAA AA
Morse Code (Space = Letter Delimiter, '/' = Word Delimiter)
5A) MARTIN ERIK SIGURD SIGURD ADAM GUSTAV ERIK ( RUDOLF OLOF YNGVE ERIK DAVID OLOF NIKLAS ) ERIK TORE ADAM SIGURD NIKLAS WILHELM SIGURD YNGVE OLOF IVAR NIKLAS ADAM BERTIL OLOF TORE TORE LUDVIG ERIK
5B) IVAR HELGE OLOF PETTER ERIK ( OLOF ) TORE YNGVE URBAN SIGURD HELGE MARTIN WILHELM URBAN ERIK ERIK TORE HELGE ADAM TORE SIGURD OLOF MARTIN ERIK OLOF NIKLAS ERIK MARTIN NIKLAS ADAM OLOF TORE KALLE CAESAR ADAM TORE ERIK CAESAR GUSTAV ERIK TORE SIGURD MARTIN YNGVE
5C) IVAR LUDVIG LUDVIG SIGURD ERIK NIKLAS DAVID ADAM NIKLAS SIGURD OLOF SIGURD IVAR ERIK MARTIN RUDOLF MARTIN URBAN TORE ADAM NIKLAS SIGURD IVAR TORE OLOF TORE HELGE ERIK WILHELM OLOF RUDOLF LUDVIG DAVID ( TORE NIKLAS NIKLAS SIGURD NIKLAS HELGE ERIK URBAN URBAN DAVID IVAR ERIK IVAR DAVID NIKLAS OLOF ) LUDVIG DAVID FILIP
Quote is from Gilbert Ryle's The Concept of Mind (Remove "X" separator for identical/paired letters, and replace some necessary "i" with "j")
Such in outline is the official theory. I shall often speak of it, with deliberate abusiveness, as “the dogma of the ghost in the machine.” I hope to prove that it is entirely false, and false not in detail but in principle. It is not merely an assemblage of particular mistakes. It is one big mistake and a mistake of a special kind. It is, namely, a category mistake.
Quote is from Orson Scott Card's book Children of the Mind
We all act because we’re sure of what we want, and we believe that the actions we perform will get us what we want, but we never know anything for sure, and so all our rationales are invented to justify what we were going to do anyway before we thought of any reasons.
Remove spaces: YouTube Link to "Tired of Waiting For You - The Kinks"
https://youtu.be/4uMQIqtD6Ik [editor note: not a link because it is considered spam and the wiki won't allow it - alternate link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uMQIqtD6Ik]
This unlisted video on Cyan's YouTube channel was added as 'message 8' at the top of the page by user G.Ryle. The description of the video contains the text:
Criticize the words they're selling //
The title and description are lyrics from Anybody Listening? by Queensrÿche.
This JPG takes up ~24KB of the ~11MB file (the head). There is extra data tacked on after the end of the JPEG file (the tail).
It was discovered around June 8 that a line had been added to the 'Read between the lines //' YouTube video's description. The numerical string 2235421143154454111424 appeared. It was another Polybius cipher (J removed) that decoded to GPRASETYADI.
This was a reference to G.Prasetyadi, who created a stegonography tool (FileStegano) which works by encoding a payload into random-looking data and appending it to the end of the containing file. The source code and a link to download the program can be found here: https://github.com/Moj00/FileStegano
The passphrase was discovered to be "neverletmedownagain" and the file's payload is a large JPG image of a red herring's head.
Error creating thumbnail: File with dimensions greater than 12.5 MP
red herring extracted from coyote image
Upon further inspection, a comment was found in the EXIF data leading to: https://imgur.com/a/71acXTD a page from a book called Critical Existentialism by Nicola Abbagnano, Nino Langiulli from 1969. Also of note, the imgur page is titled "Think for yourself and feel the walls", which is another lyric from "Anybody Listening?" by Queensrÿche. This page shows the phrase 'Transcendental Possibility' in italics. This phrase is the title of the video dropped in Cipher 10.
Also discovered in the Red Herring were four messages in the Eye, the bottom, the top, and the right side of the image:
Eye: you have spent so long studying the trees that you have entirely missed the forest in front of you
Bottom: ciphers are a tool for communication... what is being communicated? Why?
Top: perhaps the game you think you are playing is not a game after all
Right: there is something fishy going on... what could it be?
This is the text from the solved Passage 2 of the Kryptos Sculpture.
IT WAS TOTALLY INVISIBLE HOWS THAT POSSIBLE THEY USED THE EARTHS MAGNETIC FIELD X THE INFORMATION WAS GATHERED AND TRANSMITTED UNDERGRUUND TO AN UNKNOWN LOCATION X DOES LANGLEY KNOW ABOUT THIS THEY SHOULD ITS BURIED OUT THERE SOMEWHERE X WHO KNOWS THE EXACT LOCATION ONLY WW THIS WAS HIS LAST MESSAGE X THIRTY EIGHT DEGREES FIFTY SEVEN MINUTES SIX POINT FIVE SECONDS NORTH SEVENTY SEVEN DEGREES EIGHT MINUTES FORTY FOUR SECONDS WEST X LAYER TWO
The binary text translates to Morse of Ghost In The Machine, a phrase which has become our correspondent's signature.
The link required a password, which was the next line of from the Queensrÿche song: becomesandbeneathyourfeet
This then provided an audio file containing a Morse message: QSL Why Do You Delay Retrace Footsteps (QSL being code indicate a response to a previous message, meaning our coded message was received)
This all seems to indicate we are approaching these ciphered messages all wrong
The phrase 'transcendental possibility' was emphasized in the page from Critical Existentialism on imgur found from the EXIF data in the red herring image from Cipher 8.
The metadata of the video file contains the words heedful circumspectly
The music clips/lyrics/codes/solutions (so far) appear as follows:
1. Under Pressure by David Bowie/Queen
Scenes of buildings collapsing/being demolished with lyrics:
"It's the terror of knowing what this world is about. Watching some good friends screaming 'Let me out!'. Pray tomorrow--"
So are you willing to wait for the miracle // Willing to wait it through // Are you willing to wait for the miracle // Or don't you believe they're true? (Walk on Water by Mark Cohn lyrics)
Life in your new world / Turning round and round / So make some sense / Where there's no sense at all // I give you / No promises / But if you should fall // (No Promises by Icehouse lyrics)
Cipher 8 is a bunch of red herrings to prove the point that we aren't supposed to be focusing on the ciphers themselves
User T-SquaredProductions on Discord shared their interpretation of the overall message (addendums in brackets by T-SquaredProductions on June 10th, 2021):
Testing One Two Three - “Hello, is this working?”
Hello World Alive Soon TM - “I’m here. [I seem to be transmitting correctly.]”
Hello. Is there anybody out there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home? (Verbatim)
I mean what they and their hired psychiatrists call delusional systems. Needless to say, ‘delusions’ are always officially defined. We do not have to worry about questions of real or unreal. They only talk out of expediency. It’s the system that matters. How the data arrange themselves inside it. Some are consistent, others fall apart. - “[This message is not what you think it is.] Are you ready/prepared properly to receive this message?”
I'll send an SOS to the world, I hope that someone gets my, message in a bottle. /// I must remain (silent | hidden | unfound) / (them | you | we | us) make contact / (yesterday | soon | now) (Verbatim)
Such in outline is the official theory. I shall often speak of it, with deliberate abusiveness, as “the dogma of the ghost in the machine.” I hope to prove that it is entirely false, and false not in detail but in principle. It is not merely an assemblage of particular mistakes. It is one big mistake and a mistake of a special kind. It is, namely, a category mistake. /// Please Make (Meeting | Connection | Meeting) / (Attend | Listen | Get | Hear) / Can (They | Them | All | You) Hear Me - “I [, Ghost in the Machine,] will talk fast and a lot. If you don’t follow [the message] properly, then [that's your fault, and you will be or] you're making [a] big mistake[s along the way].”
We all act because we’re sure of what we want, and we believe that the actions we perform will get us what we want, but we never know anything for sure, and so all our rationales are invented to justify what we were going to do anyway before we thought of any reasons.- “Don’t have any preconceptions about [what] this [message contains or how it will be presented. Have a clear and neutral mind], because you might mess it up”
The block pattern at the end of cipher 10 may be a date, as if one interprets the code as [ Blank=00, Half=01, Bright=10 ], and reads it from left to right, top to bottom (like a normal European-based sentence), one gets this:
00001001
01100100
00010010
Which when translated into Octal, gives this number: 02262022
Which can also be changed into a valid American-style date: "02-26-2022"
