Library of Babel
Discovery
One of the Leaked E-mails hinted at a "library" subdirectory:
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From: Garnet Reed Well, there's some 'library of something or other' subdirectory off the main path, for example. I only saw it for a split second and I couldn't get into it, but it clearly doesn't belong there, whatever it is. |
This led to a hidden page:
http://perplexcityacademy.com/libraryofbabel/
The page has an animated Flash file with an id of "Thunderclap". ("A Combed Thunderclap" is a reference to the Jorge Luis Borges story, "Library of Babel". For more information, see "Puzzle Card Symbols".)
An eye opens, and text slowly appears. A transcript follows. The strikethroughs indicate words that are erased in the animation.
Text
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Waking. It was like waking into a new world from a dream of all the old. Or. No. Like opening my eyes although I knew they were already open. For a moment I thought I could see… everything. --- This is --- I must continue in silence because what would I say, how would I convince anyone of what I tell you now? That I did not kill anyone. --- But someone did. --- There are so many possibilities, numberless scenarios and how do I know? How can I know which one is the truth? Like the books in the Library of Babel, each permutation may be the correct one, but is infinitely more likely to be deceptive. A phantom. A dream. --- I thought it was a dream. Or a beautiful simulation of a place I have seen so many times before in photographs or video. I knew it at once: the yellow cars driven along the streets, the steam rising up from the sidewalk gratings. I thought: how marvellous. How real. I stumbled and fell. I grazed my hand and the blood was real and the pain was real and I began to understand. --- I didn’t kill anyone. But someone did. And they’ll be looking for me. |
Image Analysis
The two paragraphs before the last have some letters that display before the others. This may be simply a visual effect or it may be a clue.
There are also strange images above the eye, at first they were thought to be kanji. Later arkai discovered that they are just letters turned sideways. These letters seem to spell "Waking" (just like the first word of the animation).
Updated personal Message
On 01-SEP-06, the babel page was updated to show a series of book-ish images, in various forms of hiding. Clikcing the opened book image below the message section takes us to the old message section.
Firstly, the page showed a slew of leaves.
Once cleared, text is plainly visible. There does not appear to be anything else of note at this point.
Then comes the interesting part. After a certain amount of time (about a minute?) the leaves blow away, and the page turns blank. Moving the mouse over the page reveals a new much more hidden message.
Finally, clicking in the upper left corner of the page reveals yet another message. Sometimes, this one is initially slightly obscured by leaves, but is plainly visible.
Text
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I realise I should tell you what happened. So that you'll understand. Because I'm going to need your help. I only hope that you find this first. I know that there are others looking, that they may find what I have hidden. So, help? |
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This is how it was, then. I stumbled onto it. I never intended to steal anything. In fact, it was more that it stole me. I touched it and we were gone. I didn't know that could happen. I didn't know anything. But I'm starting from the wrong place again. You'll have to excuse me. It's been a long time and I haven't known who I could tell, or if I could tell anyone. |
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Begin at the beginning, then. I am a person, a real person, a single individual in Perplex City. I buried the Cube on Earth. And I will try to tell you how, but the hows are less apparent than the whys, and even they are obscure. Remember this: don't look for me, I know you're already trying. Because those other people? They're looking for me too. And if you find me, I don't know who will travel with you. Fellow-travellers can be dangerous: I should know. |
