1.04 Choose Your Own Adventure

Status

::FINAL-READY::

Location

Name And Address: Wesley's Childhood Bedroom -- actually room in Joe Freund's house, 632 Cole Street San Francisco (in the Haight)

Parking: Street, some metered; nearby lot ("ABC Parking") at 801 Stanyan Street

Bathroom: Yes

Food: Many nearby establishments on Haight Street (1/4 block away), but nothing at the site

GC PoC: (415) 475-8463, lab@trenchwood.com

Site PoC: Joe Freund

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

Plot Setup

• Iconoclast scientist Doctor When has attempted to demonstrate his time machine before an audience of VIPs.
• A key component--tachyon midi co-keypad #34 failed, which caused the Doctor to bounce around randomly in time from era to era.
• The players have already helped repair the co-keypad
• But now Doctor When's visiting colleague, Prof. Chronos, needs access to the Doctor's super secure Brain-O-Matic 9000 supercomputer, which contains key data needed to finish installing the midi ether co-keypad. But she doesn't have the password.
• Perhaps some childhood memory of Doctor When holds the key to unlocking his computer.

How To Give To Teams

After they solve the previous puzzle 1.03 Midi Ether Co-Keypad Ring A, send them these two supplemental emails:

SUBJECT: Re: Co-Keypad Design
FROM: chronos@trenchwood.com

That's fantastic! We're so much closer to getting the machine working again and then rescuing Doctor When because of your help.

Next I need to get into the Doctor's Brain-O-Matic 9000 supercomputer. But I don't know the password.

He always had a bad memory, so I once heard him say he used an important memory from childhood for a password. Perhaps if you visited his childhood home you could figure it out. He lived at 632 Cole Street in San Francisco.

 If you need help, please call the lab assistants - but when you figure out the password, please call and ask for me at that same number. I may have follow-up questions so be sure you do it on a speakerphone and have the whole group in on the call.

SUBJECT: Project: Password
FROM: lab@trenchwood.com

Research Project Title: Password
Objective: Find password to Doctor When's Brain-O-Matic 9000 supercomputer
Location: Doctor When's childhood home, 632 Cole Street, San Francisco
Upon Completion: Call lab on speakerphone and ask to speak with Prof. Chronos
Parking: Possibly you can find street parking (some metered); nearby lot at 801 Stanyan Street is a safer bet
Need To Park: Yes
Personnel Required: All members of your group should go into Wesley's home--you may need every set of eyes to find clues leading to his password
Bathrooms At Location: One
Food At Location: Restaurants and cafes around the corner, especially on Haight Street

 Notes: After you visit Doctor When's home is a good time to have lunch

Props

poster of invention ideas

• Approximately 100 copies of CYOA puzzle books (1 per player)
• Removable painter's tape (for attaching set dressing)
• Set Dressing:
  • Real Genius poster
  • set D&D books
  • sheet & pillowcase
  • Poster of invention ideas (see right)
  • hat with buttons
  • Doctor Who scarf
  • funky phone
  • other childhood memorabilia?

Plot Point to Convey

Young Wesley had the hots for young Buffy (whoever she was).

Short Description

A "Choose your own adventure" book "The Dextrus of Tempus" written by Wesley while he was in high school contains his password in a hidden code.

Open Time Period

Site Set-Up: Recommend arriving Saturday, 11:00 AM

Site Open: Saturday, 11:35 AM till last team picks up (16 teams Game 1, 17 teams Game 2), estimated 12:45 PM.

Staff Instructions

Your Role: Wesley's aging father.

What To Wear: Anything (out of your closet) befitting a dottering old man.

What Your Character Knows: He loves his son and is proud of him...but has no real idea of the true heights of Wesley's brilliance and achievement. He does not know anything about the Grand Unveiling nor that Wesley is lost in time.

Puzzles At This Site: Only "Choose Your Own Adventure"

Where To Get Materials:

• Puzzles should be picked up from GC HQ
• Other props should already be stored on site

Setup Instructions:

• Call GC when you arrive (so we know you are setting up)
• Set up props
• Make the bed
• Call GC when you are ready for teams

Handout Script:

Discreetly keep a running count of the number of teams who have picked up.

Say words to the effect of,

PLAYERS:

Pardon us. We were sent by Doctor When's laboratory. He misplaced some information and they thought perhaps it was here.

MR. WHEN:

Wesley? He just visited the other day. He was such a good boy...a bit sensitive, but a good boy. So clever, always fixing the toaster and such. I'm not sure what he does now. I think he's a clock repairman. I'm not sure what you'll find here. We kept everything the way it was when he was a child. Maybe there's something. Feel free to look around.

Let the players look around and enjoy the set dressing. But do not let them spend too much time here nor start analyzing it. If they don't find the book, bring it to their attention. Once their attention is on it, say words to the effect of:

Now this brings back memories: when Wesley was in high school he wrote an adventure story for some class he had! He was so proud of it that he went and got it professionally bound and everything. I think he tried giving it to his classmates but nobody wanted it. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was all jumbled and didn't make any sense. Here, have a copy. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I'm afraid I'm getting a bit tired. You probably have everything you need now. Perhaps you can get a bite to eat while you read the book. There are lots of restaurants around the corner. Goodbye!

Hand them a book and usher them out of the room.

Hints: Teams have been instructed to call GC; it would be out of character for Mr. When to give hints (besides, they're unlikely to be solving at the actual location)

Answers: Teams have been instructed to email their answer to the Institute (and they'll probably be long gone from the site before they solve). If they try to give their answer to you, remind them to follow their instructions.

Site Close Down:

• Take down and box up all the props.
• Thank the host
• Call GC
• What to do with props?
  • Game 1--store on site
  • Game 2--Return box of props to GC

Other Instructions:

• Stay in character.
• Except ... if a team says "time out," break character and help them.

Detailed Description

Young Wesley wrote a Choose Your Own Adventure Book in high school about a year before the "incident". Inside there is a series of codes that eventually lead to the answer "BUFFY ROCKS". In his naivete he actually believed that Buffy would be willing to go through all the different codes and decode the message. Perhaps Buffy really was that smart, but she sure wasn't interested!

Puzzle Answer

Password = "BUFFYROCKS!"

Puzzle Solution

The story has only 3 outcomes: conclusion 1, conclusion 2, or a "try again" page that sends you back to the beginning.

The "try again page" (page 2) actually describes the sequence of layers you will encounter in the course of solving this puzzle. They are called out below as GUIDING SPIRIT quotes.

GUIDING SPIRIT #1:  "You shouldn't be here. This is not the right path for you. You must start on the right path."

Starting from page 1, follow all right-hand choices at bottom of each page. All of them lead to a right-hand (odd-numbered) page, to further reinforce the right-ness, and it ends up at a conclusion (p31) instead of the "try again" page. Initial letters on this path spell a message:

1 23 7 19 13 21 17 9 25 29 5 27 11 3 15 31
PAGE NUMBERS INDEX

For reference, the story on this path flows as follows:

• straight to castle
• accept princess quest to slay dragon
• encounter troll bridge
• detour to blacksmith
• proceed to wizard
• detour to grouchy
• fight dragon
• return and stay with princess

GUIDING SPIRIT #2:  "The being of light extends its index finger"

Following the same path, and indexing the text on each page by its page number, yields this sequence of letters:

PARAGRAPH LENGTHS

GUIDING SPIRIT #3:  "... the route you have chosen ... look at it with remorse."

On that same path, each page now represents a letter of morse code. Short paragraphs (4 lines) are dots, long paragraphs (12 lines) are dashes. The new message obtained reads:

L AND R ALTERNATING

GUIDING SPIRIT #4:  "There is an alternate path.  It does not start out right, but it ends well as well."

Find a new path starting from page 1, this time choosing the left option (does not start out right), then the right, and alternating thereafter.

A new, but still consistent, storyline is obtained on this path. It happens to use all even pages, which is an artifact of construction and not relevant to the solution. Like the other path, it ends with a happy conclusion (p32) ("it ends well as well").

 1 22  28 4  18 24  12 30  26 10  8 20  16 14  6 32

The new story flow is:

• farmer gossip
• minotaur
• gypsies, stay the night
• giant's castle
• hide in sheep
• find harp, treasure
• slay sleeping dragon
• rescue princess
• chased by giant
• bring her to your time

The Guiding Spirit indicates, with an extended index finger, to index using page numbers again.

The indexed letters of the new path spell a new message:

PATHS AS SEMAPHORE

GUIDING SPIRIT #5:  "Are there any flags ...?"

The two choices at the bottom of each page on this path represent two cardinal directions. They may be of the form North + West, or Up + Left. Sometimes they're explicit in the choice text, sometimes the direction is given in the page body and only indirectly referred to in the choice text. In one case, some deduction is required to remember which direction was traveled FROM to arrive at this page, and the reverse of that direction matches the "go back" choice.

Matching the two directions to semaphore flag signal code yields this message:

XS BECOME BIG DOTS

GUIDING SPIRIT #6:  "you do not see. You must learn to see the correct spots ... completely blinding you."

There are very few instances of the letter "X" (capital or lowercase) on the pages of this path. They are to be interpreted as Braille, in the frame of the whole page. This yields one more message:

PRIME PAGE ENDINGS

GUIDING SPIRIT #7:

There is no guiding spirit hint for the final step. Starting from the beginning of the book, look at the last letter on all page numbers that are prime. This is your final message:

2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31
BUFFY ROCKS!

Credits

• Dwight - concept and prototype.
• Wei-Hwa - structural revision.
• Trisha & Erik - narrative writing.

Manager

Trisha and Wei-Hwa

Hints

Ask teams what they have done, probing details if necessary (often this will get a team unstuck by themselves).

Response to Correct Answer

Team phones Institute. Answer is verified by lab assistant (p. 10 of script)

LAB ASSISTANT: Hello. Trenchwood Institute. How may I direct your call?

VISITOR: We're the ____ team. We've cracked the password to the Brain-O-Matic 9000 supercomputer.

LAB ASSISTANT: Excellent! What is it?

VISITOR: It's _____.

Use the following lines for an incorrect answer:

LAB ASSISTANT: Oh, that can't be right. We tried that one already. Would you keep working on it and call back later?

VISITOR: Sure thing!

The call ends.

Use the following lines for a correct answer:

LAB ASSISTANT: We haven't tried that one yet...let me patch you though to Prof. Chronos. But first...are you on speakerphone?

VISITOR: Absolutely.

LAB ASSISTANT: Excellent. I'll connect you.

PROF. CHRONOS: Hello! I hope you have good news--we really need to access his supercomputer!

VISITOR: The password is "BUFFYROCKS!"

PROF. CHRONOS: Buffy? He can't still be thinking about that stuck-up, conniving, boy-stealing bimbo of a cheerleader from high school, who right now is probably a waitress at an all-night diner in Reno? Buffy? I...

Keyboard sounds in the background as Prof. Chronos types in the password.

PROF. CHRONOS: I can't believe it. I just typed it in and it works!

VISITOR: What can we do now?

PROF. CHRONOS: Oh, yes, there's so much more we need your help with. But I have to rush off to an urgent calculation. I hope you don't mind if I hand you off to one of the lab assistants for your next research assignment.

Lab assistant sends fast teams to Wormhole and other teams directly to Calibration.

To Do

• Fix remaining mistakes.
• Collect orders from GC members for personal copies to cherish.
• Send to publisher for printing.