1.10 Locate the Letter

Status

::FINAL-READY::

Location

Name And Address: Letterman Digital Arts Center Park in Presidio, Statue of Eadweard Muybridge

See the "Location: Letterman" for details.

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

Plot Setup

• Iconoclast scientist Doctor When has attempted to demonstrate his time machine before an audience of VIPs.
• But it malfunctioned due to a faulty key component. The players have helped fix that.
• The malfunction is causing the Doctor to bounce around randomly in time from era to era, facing untold dangers!
• Repairs also required access to the Doctor's supercomputer, but the team successfully hacked the password.
• Along the way they learned someone named "Buffy" was important to him back in high school.
• The players found a strange pattern in the eras that Doctor When has bounced to...which indicates that the next place he'll materialize is the Big Bang!
• The players were able to view Doctor When at the Big Bang through the time machine's View-O-Scope
• The Doctor has asked not to be returned to 2012, but rather sent to Paine Memorial High School on May 31, 1986 at 2 PM.

Props

(No new props for this puzzle)

Plot Point to Convey

• The envelope was lost at Ft. Point in around 1958.

Short Description

Players must study the video of the Doctor's journey through time to figure out where he lost the envelope.

Staff Instructions

N/A

Detailed Description

Careful study of the video log from the View-O-Scope reveals that Doctor When had the envelope in all scenes up until Vertigo, during which he lost it. The View-O-Scope message log will also display "mass loss detected."

How To Give To Teams

Lab assistant says over the phone,

All right...the machine has opened a portal for him just before we lost contact and is sending him to Paine Memorial High School on May 31, 1986 at 2 PM. Enter code 202751 in the View-O-Scope remote access program and then we can see if it worked. I'll hang up now and watch myself. When you're done call the Institute and speak with any lab assistant.

Update the team's status on the online tracker--this event has two rows.

The post-video viewing phone call should go something like:

PLAYERS:

Hello, Trenchwood? The Doctor needs us to find his envelope.

(Some teams may want to figure out on their own that they need to review the original Calibration video--although Doctor When is fairly explicit in the Act I, Scene 2 video. If you have time on the phone, you may want to work them through the creative problem solving.)

LAB ASSISTANT:

Yes, I saw the remote feed, too. I suggest you scrutinize the original View-O-Scope datastream that you viewed when we were calibrating the time machine. That was access code 991858. Perhaps you will be able to detect where he lost it. Call the Institute and speak with any lab assistant when you think you've figured it out.

SUPPLEMENTAL EMAIL

Research Project Title: Locate The Envelope
Objective: Scrutinize the original View-O-Scope datastream (access code 991858) to determine when and where Doctor When lost his envelope
Upon Completion: Call the Institute and speak with any lab assistant

Update the team's status on the online tracker--this event has two rows.

Puzzle Answer

Ft. Point in San Francisco around 1958.

Puzzle Solution

Simply review the footage from the Calibration puzzle, paying attention to the envelope. Observe that the footage where it is lost was shot at Ft. Point.

Manager

Allen

Hints

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

• Review the View-O-Scope log
• Carefully observe which scenes Doctor When has the envelope and which ones he doesn't.

Response to Correct Answer

Over the phone lab assistant says words to the effect of,

Yes! We've noticed some tachyon disturbances near Ft. Point. I wonder how far in the past he lost the envelope... let's hope that by some miracle it's still there.

Immediately continue the conversation with the opening of 1.11 Fetch the Letter.

To Do

Cannot be tested until Calibration puzzle is complete. Figure out parking options at location at Retrieve The Letter location; add to text above.

Other Notes

Listed as a separate puzzle simply because it requires separate play testing and time tracking. Not intended to be a difficult challenge.